


Of Cats and Stuff

by dildowizard



Category: Free!
Genre: AU where makoto never went to iwatobi for some reason, Alternate Universe - Never Met, Cats, Dirty Jokes, Firefighter Tachibana Makoto, Fluff, Jealous Nanase Haruka, M/M, Pets, Police Officer Matsuoka Rin, Regrets, Swearing, Tachibana Makoto Has A Large HEART, especially Rin, everyone is sorta OOC, fuck this sounds so shit i swear itll be good, rin still went to australia and they never met rei because they never decided to form a swim club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-21 06:57:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6042331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dildowizard/pseuds/dildowizard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Haruka's cat goes missing, and an attractive man shows up to return her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Prologue Of Sorts

**Author's Note:**

> So, like, first of all, please excuse the title, it is so embarrassing I don't even want to look at it, but I can't think of another one so it'll have to do. Second of all, this is my first Free! fanfic and ngl I have no idea what I'm doing, but I promise I'll try my best to make it good! Please let me know if you spot any mistakes, because I am the worst at spotting errors in my own writing :) I hope you like it!

Although Yuki's dark-haired, blue-eyed human doesn't often talk to her, she's pretty sure that he likes her just fine.

He gives her a soft pat on the head when he sets her bowl of food on the floor, rubbing the fur behind her ears just the way she likes for a few seconds, before he pulls his hand away and leaves her to eat. He also allows her to sit on his lap whilst he's watching the television, and he doesn't shoo her away when she curls up by his feet as he sleeps. He sometimes even gives her a bit of extra fish from his plate, but only if she sits by his feet and rubs her head on his leg for long enough, and makes her expression just cute enough, and meows just softly and delicately enough. This is how she knows her human likes her, because she's never seen her human share his fish with any other human, or any other animal, in fact.

Her blue-eyed human always makes her feel comfortable, so in return, Yuki makes sure that she keeps him company at all times, whenever he is in the house, because he always seems so lonely on his own. She knows for a fact that humans normally live in pairs, like the other humans that she sees living in the houses near their own, and even her previous human housemate, a frail old woman, lived with another old human for several years before he died. She often wonders why her blue-eyed human lives by himself, and she always comes to the conclusion that he must just prefer it this way. So, to make sure that her human is never too lonely without other humans for company, Yuki will always stay with him.

And, for a long time, she's completely sure that she'll never find a male cat to replace her human. That is, until she meets Miki.

**

It's absolutely certain that Miki's brown-haired, green-eyed human is a kind-hearted man, and anyone who has spoken to him knows it. At first glance, his tall, bulky build and muscular exterior may mislead you, but the minute words start falling from his lips, and the bright, polite smile lights up his face, you know that he wouldn't do anything to harm anyone, and, in fact, he will out of his way to help others.

This is probably how he ended up with four cats living in his house: Miki, his sister Natsu, and two other male cats called Tsuyoshi and Yuu. Though, he doesn't seem to mind their presence, because he gives them all food to eat and blankets to sleep on, and he scratches their heads affectionately whenever he sees them, despite the fact that all of them have peed on his carpet at least once.

Miki knows that his human will always be there for them, that he'll never forget about his cats, no matter how wonderfully complicated his life may get. In fact, his green-eyed human has told him this, one day late at night when they were waiting by the door for Natsu to come in for her dinner, and the rain was pouring down so hard that Miki couldn't bring himself to look for her, but he also couldn't bring himself to sleep until he knew his sister was safe. His human had known that Miki was worried, he had known from the fact that he had been sitting by the door and meowing her name for hours. So, he'd sat down next to his scruffy haired cat and told him not to worry, because Natsu was smart and she would definitely come home safely. Then, he told Miki how he would always make sure that all of his cats were safe, and that he'd always look after them.

And Miki knows he will, because his human never lies. So, in return, Miki vows that he will never leave his brown-haired, green-eyed human for a female cat. He keeps this promise with no problems. He really does, until he meets Yuki.

**

Haruka's life is simple. It is, it always has been, it always will be. It is simple no matter what way you look at it.

He wakes up, he spends too long in the bath, he fries himself some mackerel for breakfast, then he gets changed and goes to work. He then goes on to carry out his day in a equally simple manor, because his job is just as simple as his life. He works at the local sports centre, though he has no idea what his job would be labelled as. He cleans the pools and sweeps the tennis courts and mops the floor in the gym. Sometimes, he even files papers or works the front desk (though, that is the job he hates the most). There are no complications, no serious negatives to the job, and the only legitimate perk it comes with is the access to the pool after hours. But that's as crazy as it gets.

And it's been this way for so long, so simple and repetitive, that it becomes a comfort. Everything is the same every week, nothing ever changes, besides the single weekend every three months that Rin comes to stay with him, and all they do then is catch up briefly and go swimming in the sea. Other than that, his life is a cycle. It's just how he likes it.

This is probably why the little white cat manages to throw everything completely off balance when she somehow slips into his life.

She appears on his doorstep on a Saturday morning, and he finds her just after he's gotten out of the bath and is aiming to check the post for some more inevitable and unfortunately unavoidable bills. She looks up at him from the floor, her eyes wide and pleading. The fur that covers her is discoloured, it's presumably white original colour muddied to a questionable dark brown. Her ears are scratched and bloody, her little legs quivering with fatigue, and her tiny body is so skinny that Haruka suspects she hasn't had anything to eat in days. Haruka feels horribly bad for her. His instinct tells him to leave her be, he knows that she's an animal and she needs to survive by herself, but the pitiful meow that escapes the creature when he moves to close the door makes his heart lurch and he thinks what the heck. Today, he is going to be a good person. He scoops up her trembling body and carries her inside.

He's never bathed a cat before, but contrary to his worries, she allows him to set her in the bathtub and clean her without any fuss. Around her neck, he finds a purple collar, previously caked into the mud that covered her fur, engraved into which are the words "My Name Is Yuki" along with somebody's phone number. He'll have to call them to tell her owner that he's found their cat.

Once he's finished cleaning the little white creature, he dries her fur with the softest towel he has, and takes a look at the injuries on her ears. The scratches aren't bad, he decides they were probably inflicted by thorn-covered tree branches. He finds some sort of disinfectant in his cupboard and treats the cuts anyway, just to be sure. He then gathers the cat into his arms and carries her into the kitchen, where he gives her some fish (cod, not mackerel, they're not that good friends yet) and wanders off to find his cellphone.

When Haruka's call finally goes through, the person who picks up is a young man. Upon hearing about Yuki being at Haruka's house, he sighs, somehow sounding both relieved and tense at the same time, and introduces himself as Kouki, the son of Yuki's owner. He tells Haruka that his mother had died three weeks ago, having suffered a nasty fall down the stairs in her house, and the cat was nowhere to be seen when the neighbours found her body. Kouki tells Haruka that he'd been worried, and he was glad to know that Yuki was safe, but he had no idea what to do with the small cat, because his mother had lived by herself, her husband having died only months before her, and none of her relatives have the time or space to keep a pet.

The young man sounds so tired and stressed that Haruka finds himself offering to have Yuki staying with him for a while, just until Kouki can figure out what to do with her.

And like that, Haruka is off of the phone and stuck with a cat. Little does he know, at this moment in time, that his future calls to the number on Yuki's collar would never be picked up again.

So that is how Yuki became his cat, and he's seen her pretty much every day since she arrived on his doorstep, muddied, starved and vulnerable, and he'd reluctantly taken her in. Over time, they'd formed some sort of bond, you could say, and Haruka has, somewhat grudgingly, accepted the fact that Yuki is here to stay.

That's why, when she goes missing for four whole days, Haruka does what he sees appropriate for that moment in time. He freaks out.

Looking back on it, the more efficient thing to do would be to print some fliers and stick them on every surface he can find in the town centre, walls and lamp posts and bins and benches, but considering the fact that Haruka can't remember the last time he woke up without Yuki sleeping by his feet, it's actually completely understandable that he surpasses this option altogether and leaves the house first thing in the morning on the fourth day without seeing her, armed with cat treats and a healthy voice box, and walks around the neighbourhood calling her name.

Haruka spends hours doing this, and by the time two o'clock in the afternoon rolls around, people are beginning to give him some seriously concerned glances, and Haruka is beginning to grow disheartened. Possibilities run through his mind, his worry becoming more and more frantic with every minute that passes. Maybe Yuki has decided that she just didn't want to stay with him anymore. Or worse, maybe Yuki has been hurt. Maybe Yuki is dead, and Haruka just doesn't know.

In a last ditch effort, Haruka gives one last call of her name, hoping for some kind of response from his pet, but receiving none, before he turns around and walks home. He starts work in an hour, and he cannot take the day off just because his cat has gone missing. Cats are independent creatures, Haruka reminds himself, and Yuki can handle herself. If anyone finds her, they will find Haruka's home address and cellphone number on her new collar tag, so his phone will ring if anything happens while he's at work.

Despite his attempts to calm himself down, Haruka has a hard time concentrating at work. When he has his ten minute break at four in the afternoon, he steps out of the back door for some air. He stands in the narrow alleyway, staring at the home screen of his cellphone, devoid of any notifications. His heart sinks, a cold feeling of dread settling within him. As Yuki's owner, it's Haruka's job to make sure that she is fed, cleaned and kept safe. If she's hurt in anyway, Haruka doesn't know how he'd live with himself.

After a few minutes of praying for Yuki's safety, to his surprise, he feels a tap on his shoulder. Startled, Haruka turns, coming face to face with a man whose facial expression is one of concern, his eyes narrowed behind the red glasses perched on his nose. A glance at his name tag reveals his name to be 'Rei', and Haruka recalls that he's relatively new, and has recently started teaching theory lessons to the local track team that hold practices at the sports centre. He also works the front desk when no one else wants to, which is more often than not because everyone knows that poor Rei will just quietly obey if they ask him to do it. Haruka feels guilty when his conscience is in working order.

"Nanase-senpai." Rei starts. "You're quite pale and you've been distracted all day, are you unwell?"

"No, I'm not unwell." Haruka huffs, wanting nothing more than for Rei to turn around and leave. He knows that Rei can talk non-stop for several minutes without trouble, and Haruka's brain just isn't in any condition to deal with it right now, what with how his head his throbbing and his face feels heavy, like his eyeballs are going to give up and roll out of his skull any minute now.

"Is something bothering you? Because if there's anything I can do to help, let me know and I'll try my best!"

Inwardly, Haruka sighs. He supposes recruiting people to help him find Yuki can't hurt. The more people searching for her, the more likely she is to be found. "My cat is missing." He says.

"Oh! When did you last see it? I've heard that it's common for cats to disappear for extended periods of time, they are extremely aloof creatures-"

"She's never been away for this long before, in all of the time I've had her. She always comes home by the evening, no matter what. It's been four days and I'm worried about her."

Nodding thoughtfully, his expression frighteningly sincere, Rei taps his chin. Then, all of a sudden, his faces lights up. "If you email me a photo of her along with your contact information, I can make you some posters! That way I can put them up over the town and there will be lots of people looking for her!"

Haruka blinks, stunned. He'd been expecting Rei to just say "I'll keep eye out for her." and offer Haruka a sympathetic smile like most people would, but he supposes he must have forgotten that some people were just naturally extremely nice, and it seems that Rei is one of those people. "I'd appreciate it." Haruka says, and he means it.

Rei gives him a blinding smile. "I'll try my best to help you find your cat, Nanase-senpai!"

Allowing the corners of his mouth to curve upwards into a miniscule smile, Haruka is pleased to note that he suddenly feels slightly less panicked, even though, objectively, he knows he hasn't actually accomplished anything yet. With any luck, he'll have found Yuki before Rei has to start putting up posters. Even so, he feels a bit lighter when Rei bids him goodbye and wishes him well before he turns and enters the building again, leaving Haruka in the peace and quiet that fills the alleyway.

He closes his eyes, letting his throbbing head fall back against the brick wall behind him. Wherever she is, Haruka hopes that Yuki is alright.


	2. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure that I'm happy with the start, but I've got a free night tonight so I thought I'd get this out there before I suddenly get busy again later this week and inevitably forget to post it :) I hope you enjoy the chapter, anyway!

Haruka's brain is already completely dysfunctional when he gets back from work; his body is practically on autopilot as he turns the last corner of the walk home and swings open the gate leading to his front yard. The summer heat has turned the contents of his head almost entirely to mush, and the stress of worrying about Yuki all day has drained him of any energy he would otherwise have left.

For this reason, it is entirely not his fault that whatever brain cells he still possesses die the moment he sees the extremely attractive man that stands on his doorstep, a black cat cradled to his chest and his arm raised as he knocks on Haruka's front door. The first thing Haruka notices is that the man has an extremely beautiful body, his shoulders broad and his arms toned, and Haruka can see the well-defined muscles of his back through the thin blue t-shirt he's wearing in the summer weather, a layer of sweat making the material stick to his skin, hiding nothing as the muscles flex when the man bends to pet the head of a small white animal that is sitting at his feet-

Abruptly, Haruka's attention snaps away from the man's bodily features, because he then realises that, hold the fuck up, that's not just any white animal-

The man at the door sighs. "I'm sorry, Yuki-chan, it looks like your owner isn't home-"

"Yu- Yuki-" Haruka stutters, cutting the attractive man off, his heart jumping in his chest as he catches sight of his pet. Upon hearing Haruka's voice, both Yuki and the man turn around to face him, and Yuki breaks into a run at the sight of her owner, meowing furiously and demanding his attention. Haruka is torn, should he address the man or should he first greet his pet?

As he is not entirely sure that he is capable of human speech at the moment, he opts for entirely ignoring the man's presence as he drops his bag onto the ground and crouches, gathering Yuki into his arms and burying his nose in her fur.

Relief overcomes him. He is so glad to see the little creature that he can actually feel tears coming to his eyes. He feels a little bit pathetic, he must confess, but he supposes that he has a reason to be a little bit emotional right now. I mean, after all, he hasn't seen the cat in days, and he'd been worried sick about her well-being. Releasing a long sigh, Haruka lowers his voice as he scolds her. "Yuki, where on earth have you been? I was so worried-" His voice catches in his throat and he suddenly remembers that they are not alone. He allows himself one extremely deep breath before he stands, bringing Yuki up with him, tucked in his arms.

It's now that Haruka gets a good look at the man's facial features. The man has light brown hair and beautiful green eyes, and his expression is what can only be described as the most sincere and kind expression Haruka has ever seen on a human person. On his face is a smile so bashful and so polite that Haruka wants to cry. He's just that extremely cute. Haruka instinctively wants to protect him, which is probably a bit weird, but, to he fair, his entire personality isn't working properly at the moment, thank you very much, for his brain cells have only recently died (RIP). He decides that he can be excused.

After a beat of silence as Haruka is just scraping together what is left of his intelligence to manage a conversation with a man as beautiful as this one, the man himself speaks before Haruka can say a word. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to bring her back!" He squeaks.

"It's-" Haruka starts, but the man begins speaking again before he can finish.

"She came home with Miki-chan a few days ago and I didn't think anything of it! You see, I'm sort of used to cats showing up out of nowhere and not leaving, so I just gave her food and let her do what she wanted. Then, well, a couple of days ago she seemed restless and kept leaving the house then returning a few moments later, like she wasn't sure where to go. That was when I finally noticed her collar and I realised that she didn't know how to get home, so I decided that I'd bring her here, to the address on her collar. I was busy yesterday, so I couldn't, but I brought her here as soon as I could! I'm sorry I wasn't quicker, you must have been worried sick-"

"It's fine." Haruka interrupts, his face flushing with the effort of talking. "It's absolutely fine. Thank you."

"You must have been so worried." The man says, scratching the back of his head and letting out a little awkward laugh. "I'm sorry."

Frowning, Haruka watches as the man seems to grow more and more awkward where he stands in front of Haruka's front door. "You brought back my cat, why are you sorry?" He mutters.

The man blinks. "I'm sorry for not bringing her sooner, and for not calling you to tell you she was safe."

"You shouldn't be sorry. I'm glad you brought my cat home. Thank you." Haruka mumbles.

The man's cheeks flush red. His wide smile becomes a shy smile, but though it changes in shape, it is still kind. "That's alright." He says. "I'm Tachibana Makoto, by the way. You can call me Makoto."

Trying to keep his happiness from showing on his face, Haruka takes a moment to get himself together. "Nanase Haruka." He introduces himself.

Makoto pauses, then laughs suddenly. "Wow, so we're both men with girly names. What a coincidence."

Haruka allows his lips to curve upward into a smile. "Yeah, I guess." He agrees. Wait, he should invite Makoto inside, shouldn't he? His instincts are screaming for him to do so, but his lips lock shut, and he cannot force himself to speak. _Fuck, go on,_ he yells at himself, _he's fucking hot, you're not going to get a chance like this again, god dammit!_ He clears his throat. "I- Uh- Do you- Like, do you want to come inside? Like for tea or something? To say thanks for returning my pet?" He chokes out, moving closer to the front door.

Makoto smiles, genuine and soft, not at all mocking. It's a sight Haruka isn't used to, and seeing it makes his insides flutter. "Sure. I'll have to bring Miki-chan with me, though, so I hope you don't mine."

Haruka huffs a laugh. "It's fine, I'm used to cats."

Haruka has to put Yuki down so he can unlock the front door, so he puts her on the pavement by his feet as he does so. As soon as he opens up, she runs inside the house without a moment's hesitation, her little paws tapping on the floor. Haruka leads Makoto in after her, and the brown haired man gently sets his own cat down, too. Yuki meows towards Miki, before she turns and leads him off into the kitchen, her tail swishing behind her and her little ears twitching with happiness. Miki follows her shyly, unsure in the unfamiliar environment.

Haruka watches them fondly, pleased that his cat is making friends with others of her species, before he turns his attention to the man standing by his side. Makoto slips off his shoes and says "Sorry for intruding." Then, Haruka takes him into the kitchen, after the two cats.

Hurriedly, Haruka heads over to the stove to put on a pot of tea. Still looking attractive in the dodgy lighting of Haruka's kitchen, Makoto shyly takes a seat at the little kitchen table.

"You have a lovely home." The brown-haired man comments, his voice as warm as everything else about him. The compliment makes Haruka blush, before he realises he's getting flustered over a man who is literally a complete stranger, and he quickly turns away, snatching up the box of tea leaves from his cupboard and setting out two cups for them, keeping busy to distract himself from his own flushing face.

When he glances up, Yuki and Miki are sitting together on the windowsill in front of him. Yuki's little feline face appears entirely too smug for an animal, her tail curled preciously around the base of the candle that sits upon the windowsill. She tilts her head, looking at him with scarily knowing eyes, like she is aware of exactly what he's thinking about Makoto. Flushing harder, Haruka looks away, inwardly cursing Yuki for bringing him such a painfully beautiful and perfect man.

When he finishes up with the tea, Haruka brings the teapot and their mugs to the little table, pouring the liquid into the two cups. "Thank you, Nanase-kun." Makoto says as he takes the first sip of his tea.

"Oh, uh- You can call me Haruka. Or Haru. Whatever you want." Haruka says, quickly, then he winces against his will. Oh my god, he sounds so needy! How embarrassing! Why is he acting like this? He's normally extremely good at controlling his speech, he hates coming off as clingy or showing any vulnerability. Rin has always teased him about his stony face and his ability to seem neutral all of the time ("You'll never get a blowjob - oops, I mean boyfriend - if you glare at everyone, Haru!"), so he really can't understand why he's struggling to control himself in this situation. It puts him on edge. 

Haruka's face feels hot and he stares down into his tea, not wanting to make eye contact with the man in front of him after he has said such an embarrassing thing.

Makoto, however, doesn't seem to notice. Haruka glances up from his tea and sees him smiling widely, looking pleased, not at all mocking, his cheeks dusted with a light tint of pink. Relieved, Haruka takes a long sip of his tea, taking pleasure in how the boiling liquid burns his tongue as it slides down his throat. Makoto is just too cute with a blush on his cheeks, Haruka can't take it. He seriously considers taking him upstairs right then and wrapping him in a blanket and feeding him cookies for the rest of his life. However, Makoto speaks before he can. "Alright, Haru-chan."

And Haruka almost spits out his mouthful of tea. 'Haru-chan'? Only Nagisa calls him that, and the only reason why Haruka doesn't punch him for it is because they've been close friends since they were kids! He's known Makoto for approximately six seconds compared to how long he and Nagisa have been friends!

But before Haruka can mention it (not that he would, anyway), Makoto, the little angel he is, starts speaking again, and Haruka is distracted by his cuteness again. "So do you have any other pets, Haru-chan?"

Shaking his head, Haruka looks over to where Yuki is sitting with Miki, her eyes shining as she sits up straight, her tailed curled delicately around her paws as she looks down at the male cat, who is crouching and meowing something to her. "No. Yuki is enough, I don't know if I'd be able to handle any other pets."

"I know what you mean, she seems like a very opinionated cat." Makoto chuckles fondly, his broad shoulders shaking as he does so, and he follows Haruka's gaze to where the cats are sitting. "And also it looks like she handles Miki-chan quite well, too. He's normally quite the rebel." He remarks as they watch Yuki meow then jump down from the windowsill, striding out of the kitchen and up the stairs to where Haruka's bedroom is, with Miki obediently following her a pace or two behind. Makoto turns to look at Haruka, a concerned expression on his face. "Are you ok with them going up there?"

Haruka shrugs. "Yuki does what she likes, really. There's nothing dangerous around, it's just where my bedroom and the bathroom is."

Makoto smiles, his facial features relaxing into the expression as if it comes completely naturally to him. "Okay, as long as you're alright with it."

The room falls quiet for a second, and Haruka uses this opportunity to get himself together. He needs to figure out his game plan. There's a cute guy in his house, after all, and there's no fucking way Haruka's going to let him escape before he can at least get his cellphone number. He can't let that happen, he'd only beat himself up for it afterwards if he missed the opportunity. Hell, Rin would probably somehow find out and come all the way from Tokyo to beat him up for it. So, Haruka decides that his goal for today is going to be acquiring Tachibana Makoto's phone number.

After a long few seconds of nothing, Haruka realises it has probably been quiet for too long, and it'd be polite for him to be the one to start the conversation this time. He might as well return the question he'd been asked earlier, for the sake of recycling. "What about you, then, do you have any other pets?"

Smiling like the little sunflower he is, Makoto takes a sip of his tea and nods happily. "Yeah, I've got three other cats and a tortoise."

Haruka blinks. "Really? What are their names?"

"Well, there's Miki-chan, obviously, then there's Natsu-chan, his sister, and also Ryuu and Tsuyoshi. And my tortoise is called Dave."

"Dave?" Haruka asks, confused, the foreign syllables sounding strange on his tongue.

"It's an English name. It just seems to suit him." The brown haired boy smiles sheepishly. "You'd understand if you saw him, I swear."

Haruka huffs out a little laugh and says "I guess." even though he's not quite sure what Makoto means.

Another moment of quiet passes in which they both sip their tea, before Makoto eventually asks "Do you work?" and settles his chin in the palm of one of his hands, leaning his elbow on the table top. Makoto's sweet smile (another smile?) is so blinding that Haruka's surprised his nose doesn't start bleeding on the spot from the sight of it.

Haruka nods, swallows and releases a nervous cough, attempting to force himself to stop staring at Makoto's beautiful face. "Y- Uh, yeah, I work at the sports centre."

"Really? That's pretty cool, do you play sports?"

"Well, uh- I like to swim. It's not part of my job, though." Haruka mutters, his eyes downcast.

Makoto's smile gets impossibly wider and Haruka honestly fears for the healthiness of his face muscles. "Really? You like to swim? That's such a coincidence, so do I! Not competitively, though. What stroke do you swim?"

"Freestyle."

"Ah, I think that's the coolest stroke. I prefer to swim backstroke because I'm not very good at swimming free, but I wish I could do it."

"Backstroke is an interesting stroke, too." Haruka mumbles. "I don't swim anything but free, though."

"We'll have to go swimming together one day." Makoto decides. "We can have a race and you can see just how average my freestyle stroke is."

Haruka huffs a laugh, but makes sure to say quietly "I'm sure it's not that bad."

Makoto shakes his head. "It's not awful, I'm just not especially talented at it."

The brown haired man then finishes up his tea, and Haruka can't help but watch the muscle in his throat bob as he swallows. He stamps down any unnecessary explicit thoughts, and forces himself to make eye contact with the man when he sets down his teacup.

"Well, thank you for the tea, Haru-chan, but I really should be going now, I have work in bit."

"Oh, I never asked about what you do-"

Chuckling lightly, Makoto shrugs bashfully and flicks his hair out of his eyes. "I'm not doing much at the moment, I just file stuff at the fire station. I'll hopefully be a real fireman by the end of the year, if I finish my training."

Oh God. Haruka feels himself break out in a sweat at the thought of Makoto wearing a fireman's uniform. He thinks of a pair of suspenders stretched over the man's muscular shoulders, a white t-shirt covering his broad chest and his clearly well-toned torso. He thinks of how his hair would flatten against his head, dampened with sweat, and how the man would have to run his fingers through it to keep it out of his eyes. He thinks of how a pair of baggy dark trousers with fluorescent lining would hang low on his hips, slipping slightly to reveal the skin of a soft stomach-

And Haruka is sure that he can literally feel himself slowly descending into hell already, and he's not even dead yet.

"You'd make a good fireman." Haruka says, his mouth involuntarily spewing words without his consent. "With your height and muscles and stuff."

Makoto flushes bright red and scratches the back of his neck. "Ah, thank you, Haru-chan." He says, modestly. Then, with a glance at his watch, he rises to his feet. Haruka follows soon after. "Well, I should actually be going now, otherwise I'll definitely be late for work. Oh, here, how about you put your number into my phone so we can arrange a date for a race at some point. And I'm sure our cats would like to see each other again." He suggests, pulling his cell phone from his pocket, unlocking it and putting it in Haruka's hand.

Haruka enters his number into Makoto's phone and saves his contact as a simple "Haru", before he gives the device back to the taller man, a little discreet triumphant smile upon his lips.

As they walk together into the hallway, Makoto tells him, "I'll text you later so you'll have my number, too, of course, but I've got to hurry, now."

Makoto shuffles to the bottom of the stairs, calling in a hushed voice up to his cat. "Miki-chan, it's time to go!"

For an awkward second, Haruka doesn't think that the black haired cat is going to come down upon hearing Makoto's voice, but sure enough, the creature does come, trotting out of the door of Haruka's bedroom and slipping down the stairs, Yuki at his side. The white cat immediately comes to sit at Haruka's feet and Miki gravitates towards his own owner, rubbing his face on the man's leg affectionately.

As he puts on his shoes, Makoto thanks Haruka for the tea and the two of them say their goodbyes, Makoto leaving Haruka the promise of a text later. The taller man offers a final smile before he hoists Miki up into his arms, and exits, walking down Haruka's path and then off down the street.

Little does he know that, in his wake, he leaves Haruka standing with his back pressed against his closed front door, feeling like a teenage girl who's just gotten back from her first date with the guy she's been crushing on since middle school. Haruka looks at Yuki, who is staring up at him with innocent eyes and acting like she has no idea why her owner is so worked up. He knows that she knows, though. "This is your fault." He informs her. She meows, flicks her tail, and stalks off into the kitchen.

Haruka sighs.

**

Later on, Haruka checks his cellphone in a very casual manor, trying to convince himself that he's not eagerly awaiting a text from the brown haired boy he'd met just today. Nope, he is honestly planning on checking the weather, and it's purely by chance that he discovers that he has received two texts in the last few hours

One is from Makoto, Haruka is delighted to see. The text reads "Good evening, Haru-chan, it's Makoto, I just thought I'd text you so that you have my number. :)" and Haruka almost swoons, even though there is nothing really to be swooning about. Haruka blinks and replies with a swift "Hi", because he doesn't really know what to say, but he thinks it'd be rude not to answer him. Then, he saves the number into his phone as "Tachibana Makoto", insisting that he will not be caught up in Nagisa's alarming habit of saving people into his phone with weird nicknames, which he had admittedly found amusing at one point, until a text alert flashed across the little blond male's phone screen while they were hanging out, and it was from someone who's contact name read "Daddy ;) ;) xx". After that, Haruka found it a little less funny and a little more odd. Haruka shudders a little at the thought, before he remembers that he'd received another text, not just Makoto's.

Upon checking, Haruka sees that the other text is from Rin. For a moment, he's a bit confused, purely because the redhead hardly ever texts him anymore, they normally use Snapchat to talk. He usually only texts when he's either particularly drunk, which is an unlikely reason for this situation since it's a Thursday evening, or when he's planning on coming to Haruka's house to stay-

Haruka's blood runs cold. Panicked, he opens the text, and he swallows hard in preparation before he begins to read: "put on your swim shorts, bitch, I'm in town this weekend. we're gonna race."

Groaning, Haruka says goodbye to any hope he'd had that he'd be able to have a nice, peaceful weekend, and maybe even arrange a friendly race with a nice, peaceful Makoto. Nope, instead he'd be subjected to the stress of racing his loud, energetic childhood rival, who is bound to win when poor Haruka is out of practice and suffering from a severe lack of sleep.

Yeah, Haruka is doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, please let me know if you spotted any mistakes in my writing!


	3. The Asshole Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *enter Officer Matsuoka Rin*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I have a new chapter for you, after almost a month of waiting! I apologise for that, by the way, but Haikyuu has sort of taken over my brain recently, and I couldn't write MakoHaru without my mind straying to KageHina and IwaOi... But anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it, even though it's a little late!
> 
> And just to warn you, my writing of Rin is a bit OOC, I accidentally made him a bit of a goofball like Nagisa without realising until the end... I guess could've made Nagisa the one who visits Haru every few months, but I just didn't think it would fit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my weird little version of Rin, even if he strays pretty far from his canon self.
> 
> Oh and also, my iPod sort of corrects Rin to Ron sometimes, and my brain doesn't notice it anymore because I read Harry Potter fanfics on a daily basis, so please let me know if you spot any stray Rons.
> 
> ANYWAY, ENJOY!

Haruka hadn't been expecting Rin to arrive in Iwatobi until early Saturday morning at the absolute earliest. This is normally a thing that happens for certain with no exceptions, so he doesn't even consider the option that Rin might have other plans. When he first started coming to visit Haruka, Rin had told him firmly that he has training courses for the police force to attend on most weekdays, his only weekly day off being Mondays, and it is incredibly hard for him to take days off on a whim. As a result, there is no way that he'd ever physically be able to make it to Iwatobi at any sooner time than Saturday morning, and that's a fact, Rin had told him so himself.

For this reason, Haruka's mind, still fragile after his encounter with Makoto (also known as "the attractive man"), is completely unprepared when he walks into work, twenty minutes late, on Friday morning, not even a full day after he'd received the text notifying him of Rin's planned visit, to find the red haired man standing at the counter dressed in his entire police trainee uniform, equipped with even a hat and gloves, grinning devilishly and leaning over the counter of the front desk, his hip jutting out quite obnoxiously as he talks to a stuttering, blushing Rei who clearly doesn't have a clue what to do.

Blinking slowly, Haruka watches the interesting scene unfold before him, observing as Rin leans even further over the desk, his body bending unnaturally into a perfect arch and his mouth moving animatedly, undoubtedly spouting countless dumb pick up lines at the boy standing before him. Rei takes a few awkward steps backwards, his face burning brighter and redder with embarrassment as the situation is allowed to continue. Haruka closes his eyes and enjoys the last few moments of freedom he will have before what he's pretty sure is going to be the most tiring extended weekend of his life. Then, he springs into action, prepared to save his co-worker from imminent heart failure.

Striding towards his two friends with as much confidence as he can muster, Haruka makes his way across the reception area until he is standing behind Rin, ready to rescue the poor stuttering boy from the clearly very awkward situation he is faced with. He listens as Rei continues to ramble at Rin in an attempt to avoid the older man's advances. "-yes, er, well, he was meant to be here about twenty minutes ago, precisely twenty three minutes ago, in fact, but I'm afraid I, um, don't know where he is. I'm sorry, Matsuoka-san, you're welcome to wait here until he comes, I'm just covering for him on the reception desk until he gets here-"

Rin smiles and tilts his head a little, eyes half-lidded and shining, fixing a decidedly predatory gaze on Rei, who is clearly the metaphorical defenceless deer in this situation. Then, he says, smoothly, "If I wait, will you keep me company, my little Rei-chan? I'm sure we can have a lot of fun." and Rei chokes on literally nothing. All that remains of the professional disposition he had mastered is suddenly overtaken by bewilderment, and his usually pale skin has completely succumbed to the fiery red of his furious blush.

"Rin." Haruka interrupts, voice just loud enough for the red haired man to hear. Rin turns at the sound of the voice, and, curiously, Rei looks over to see what has caught the attention of his troublesome customer. Fortunately, he catches sight of his senior co-worker, and Haruka sees the relief fill his eyes when he sags, all tension leaving his shoulders.

"Ah, Haru, I was just looking for you!" Rin exclaims, a smile lighting up his face. His elbow leaves the desk and he rotates his body so that he can greet his old friend with an embrace. Seeing that Rin has opened his arms and is leaning towards Haruka for a hug, the dark-haired man steps backwards in a clear display of "not right now" (not to be mistaken for a clear display of "fuck off") and Rin sighs, settling for just touching Haruka's shoulders with his fingertips. Behind Rin, Haruka catches sight of Rei escaping through the back door, and Haruka has to say that he can't quite blame him for wanting to get away from having to talk to Rin, who can be quite intense when he attempts to flirt with innocent victims like Rei.

Then, Haruka addresses Rin. "I would appreciate it if you didn't take it upon yourself to scare my co-workers, Rin." Haruka states.

"Scare?" Rin gasps, his hand flying to cover his chest in exaggerated offense. "I wasn't trying to scare Rei! We've grown quite close haven't we-" Rin turns back again, presumably to seek confirmation from the man, but finds that the back door is open and Rei is nowhere to be seen. "Oh."

Haruka snorts.

Blinking, Rin sighs. He turns back to his old friend with a sad smile. "Tch. I really thought we had something going there."

"Something?" Haruka snorts again. "You were scaring him. It's no wonder he ran for it, you were talking to him with that creepy smile of yours and making weird shapes with your body."

"I wasn't scaring him. He only left because he was shy." Rin insists, folding his arms.

"Did you ignore literally everything I just said?"

Rin, as expected, doesn't acknowledge Haruka's question, but instead he runs his fingers through his hair before he turns and waves quite charmingly towards a passing group of women. They giggle and blush, whispering to each other as they leave the gym. "Ah, I love this whole "policeman" thing. Chicks dig it."

Haruka rolls his eyes. "You play the role of a straight man very well." He mutters, quiet enough that only Rin can hear.

"A little female attention every once in a while never hurt anybody." Rin says. Haruka can do nothing but sigh.

When the group finally reach the exit, Rin leans back against the counter again and asks, "So, aren't you going to ask me why I'm here?"

"I might. Later. But I kind of have to actually start work first." Haruka mutters, turning and making his way into the staff room without another word, ignoring Rin's mumbled comments about how "impolite children are, these days". He dumps his bag onto the table and pulls off his sweater, revealing the bright blue "Iwatobi Sports Centre" t-shirt that he has to wear as his uniform. Then, he grabs the few things he'll need in order to run the reception desk along with some papers he has to file, and slips back into the room where Rin is waiting impatiently, his foot tapping against the wooden flooring. Haruka strides past him, barely sparing him a glance, and takes his place at the desk.

A few moments pass before Rin finally asks, "Are you going to ask now?"

Trying to keep his face from showing his amusement at the frustration in Rin's voice, Haruka looks up in surprise, as if he'd forgotten Rin was there at all. He does enjoy fucking with Rin's head, especially since he's so easy to piss off. "Oh yeah. Why're you here?"

"Well," Rin states, grandly. "Since you asked so very nicely and eagerly, and since you clearly want to know so badly, I suppose I can inform you that as of this very day of Friday the 14th of July, I, Matsuoka Rin, have been promoted to Actual Police Officer, fresh out of training."

Eyebrows jumping, as his eyes snap up from the desk to his friend face, Haruka can't help but smile gently. "Wow, Rin. That's pretty amazing, congratulations." He says earnestly. He leans over the front desk and gives Rin a pat on the shoulder, his eyes beginning to sting as if they are about to shed the proud tears of a proud mother. Haruka is afraid to say that they actually might, because despite how he teases Rin, and despite how they'd had their disagreements at school, Rin is still the man that Haruka would call his best friend, and Haruka feels extremely proud of him, in that moment, for overcoming his issues and eventually finding a career which he could succeed in and enjoy at the same time, without constantly pushing himself too far and injuring himself in the process. His best friend is happy, and Haruka is proud.

Rin, unable to handle a serious and emotional situation for too long, drops into a bow and laughs triumphantly in an exaggerated manor. "Thank you, thank you. It's been a long, rocky road and an exhilarating journey with both ups and downs, but it was worth it. Actually, I was awarded the title along with the prize of a paid day off, and I decided I couldn't wait until Saturday to see you, so I left work this morning when I received the news and came straight here to spend my day off with my best friend! That's also why I'm still wearing my uniform... But here I am, I guess!"

"I'm flattered." The dark haired man says, dryly. Rin laughs. To be honest, Haruka genuinely is flattered, but he doesn't let Rin know it, trying to hide the honest surprise that wants to make it's way onto his face. "Do you want to celebrate tonight? How does a movie and a couple of drinks sound?"

Rin grins, his sharp teeth glinting in the brightness of the room. "It sounds perfect, we can make it all like a proper sleepover!" He exclaims. "Do you think we should invite-"

"No." Haruka cuts him off, firmly, fully aware of where the question is going. "I will not allow you to scare poor Rei any further. He is innocent. He has done nothing to deserve that fate."

Rin pouts and proceeds to try and persuade Haruka to change his mind, telling him that it is absolutely a good idea to invite Rei, that they'd both benefit from it in the long run. When Haruka raises his eyebrows and asks him how exactly it would benefit him, Rin does a surprisingly good job of avoiding the question and instead he manages to bring the conversation back around to the reasons why Rei is wonderful, a subject which Rin is spectacularly knowledgeable in.

However, as enlightening as these reasons are, Haruka decides that it is time to put his foot down. "No. Rei can't come and watch movies with us, and that's final."

"You're mean." Rin declares. He pouts for the next ten minutes, mumbling to himself and glaring at the side of Haruka's face like a spoiled child who has just been denied a new toy for the first time. He then proceeds to annoy Haruka at the desk, talking loudly to him about things he knows Haruka doesn't really care about, and eventually, people start coming into the reception area and getting confused at the sight of a policeman flapping around the desk like a small child.

After a while, the manager emerges from his office and begins to frown disapprovingly at Haruka from a distance. At this point, the dark haired boy begins to worry for the safety of his job. He points towards the door, looking Rin in the eye as he says "You should leave. There's a spare key under the mat, you can watch the TV and help yourself to food. I'll be home by about two."

Rin lingers for a second, attempting to avoid the instruction, but, fortunately, being his best friend, Haruka is prepared for situations like this. He leans forwards to mutter into Rin's ear in a low voice. He tells him that his manager is watching them and if Rin continues to make a scene, Haruka is going to get fired, meaning that he won't have money to buy Rin food this weekend and Rin loves food. Upon hearing this, Rin's eyes widen and he runs out of the door so fast that he literally almost takes flight.

Haruka releases a relieved sigh. It is definitely going to be a long weekend.

**

The sight that he is greeted by at two o'clock in the afternoon when he arrives home from work is a sight which he never wants to see again.

Rin is laying upside down on Haruka's precious sofa, his long legs dangling loosely over the back and his muddy trainers scraping dirt onto the carpet. One of his arms is spread outwards, hand buried beneath a pile of lollypop wrappers and chewed sticks, and the other is curled in an awkward position beneath his body. The jeans he'd been wearing are pulled all the way down to his knees, only a thin red pair of boxer briefs shielding his manhood from Haruka's innocent gaze, and his head is hanging off of the front of the couch, his eyes closed in sleep. On the floor next to his head, a certain white cat is asleep too, her paws buried carelessly in his wild head of hair.

Despite how Haruka is extremely thankful that he doesn't have to deal with an eyeful of Rin's genitals today, he is not too thankful that he has an array of wrappers littering his living room and mud all over his carpet. Haruka decides that a solution to this situation must be found immediately.

Forced to take action for the second time that day, Haruka bends to scoop his sleeping cat into his arms, pulling her little feet free from where they'd been caught in the red hair of the man lying on the couch. He hoists her up gently and she snuggles into his arms, still asleep. Keeping her held close to his chest, his left hand steadying and supporting her body so that she is not disturbed, Haruka leans down to grip onto the muscular forearm of his friend. His hand remains gripping it for several seconds, preparing for the event that will follow, but then, gathering his strength, he finally gives Rin's arm the hardest tug he can muster, yanking the man from the couch and sending him flying onto the floor.

The man lands with a loud thump and the sweet wrappers his hand had been hiding under are sent flying upwards, turning into multi-coloured lollypop wrapper confetti as they come back down all over the living room. Yuki remains sleeping peacefully in Haruka's arms.

"OUCH! What the fuck?!" Rin yells, finally, waking with a start and glaring up at Haruka with bleary eyes.

Haruka scoffs and says, bluntly, "Pull up your damn trousers, asshole."

Rin at least has the decency to blush as he does so, rising to his feet. He rubs at the back of his neck, grimacing. "Did you honestly have to wake me up like that?" He snaps. "You damn near gave me a heart attack!"

"Yes." Haruka says, simply, ignoring the second statement. He moves to place Yuki down on the sofa so that she can continue sleeping in peace. "Also, please clean up your shit before you do anything else."

Rin glares at the mess of lollypop wrappers but does as he is asked with minimum complaint.

Later, after he's changed into something more comfortable and gotten himself a drink, Haruka comes back to check on him. "What movie do you want to watch?" He asks Rin, leaning against the door frame with a mostly empty glass of merlot in his hand, watching his friend pick up every little sweet wrapper with just his hands, a strange feeling of satisfaction blooming in his chest at the sight of it.

From the floor, Rin scoffs. "It's like you've never had a sleepover before, Haru."

Haruka blinks. "What?"

"Okay. Clearly you are completely uneducated about how sleepovers work. So here's what's going to happen, yeah, make sure you listen closely." Rin says, sitting back on his heels. "First, we're going to bring the blankets downstairs and put them on the couch. Then, we are going to get comfy in the blankets and drink alcohol whilst we talk about boys. After that, we will play a sleepover game, maybe swap phones and play a trust game or something. And then, only then, will we pick a movie on Netflix and watch it until we fall asleep on the couch."

Haruka inwardly groans and asks himself what he's gotten himself into. Rin glares at him until he nods reluctantly.

His explanation complete, the redhead finishes picking up every wrapper from the floor and he puts them all into the bin. Then, Haruka grabs some blankets from upstairs and lets Rin arrange them on the couch as he heads into the kitchen to fetch the bottle of merlot along with another glass, and they settle on the couch to begin their "Sleepover Checklist".

The first part is easy to deal with, it's pretty much the same as what happened when Nagisa used to arrange sleepovers between him, Haruka and Rin when they were in Junior school. Rin asks Haruka if he has met anyone new recently, anyone cute or funny or interesting in any way, and Haruka says "not really" in his usual passive fashion. Then, Haruka returns the question and Rin rants about whoever his latest obsession is. On this occasion, it is Rei, and Rin talks about every single feature of his which he finds even remotely attractive or interesting. He speaks for an embarrassingly long time, considering how he'd only interacted with Rei for less than ten minutes that afternoon. Eventually, Haruka manages to make a passing comment about the time, implying strongly that it is getting close to bed time, and Rin wisely suggests that they move on.

That is when Rin forces Haruka to trade phones with him, and that is when things begin to become tricky.

When Rin first comes up with the idea, the immediate panicked thought that enters Haruka's mind is "Did I delete that dirty yaoi manga I was reading the other day, the one with the nipple clamps?" and all he has time to do is begin think about whether or not he ended up getting rid of it before his mobile phone is yanked suddenly from his hand.

He eventually comes to the conclusion that yes, he's pretty sure he did delete it, and once he has assured himself that Rin will not be bugging him with any awkward questions anytime soon, and his mind is clear enough to think about literally anything else, a second thought enters his head, coming in the form of "What about my texts?", but by then it is already too late. Rin gasps loudly next to him, the breath drawn sharply through his clenched teeth. His head turns slowly and he stares at Haruka with wide eyes.

"Who's Tachibana Makoto?!" Rin hisses. Haruka freezes. He doesn't answer, the shock refusing to let him respond. The red-haired man seems to take this as refusal to answer, because he then begins to talk louder. "Dammit, Haruka, this is the first new contact I have seen on your phone in years. Years, I tell you!" He grips onto Haruka's t-shirt with his left hand, his love for dramatics not forgotten for one moment. "This is a miracle, it needs to be documented, so that the people of the future will know about this moment and never forget it. Someday, people will learn about this in schools. The great Nanase Haruka, possessor of the heart of stone, increases his number of phone contacts from five to six. Now, please, Haru, do tell me, for the sake of the children of the future, who the fuck is Makoto? Are you dating them behind my back? Is it a boy or a girl? I mean, 'Makoto' sounds like a girl's name, but who knows, I mean, everyone's name is a girl's name in this damn town. When were you planning on telling me? Look at this, they've already texted you, it must be serious! Aw, they call you Haru-chan? How sweet! Dammit, Haru, my soul cannot take this, just tell me who this Makoto is to you-"

Haruka, tired of this shit, suddenly gives Rin a mighty shove, hard enough that he falls onto the floor, cutting off whatever he'd been saying. Haruka's tolerance for stupidity has decreased to zero. Luckily, he had not been holding his glass of merlot. "Rin." He says, icily. "Shut the fuck up. I am not in the mood to hear one of your dumb monologues."

Lifting himself back onto the couch like nothing had happened, Rin snorts. "It wasn't a monologue. I was talking to you."

"You were talking to yourself. It was a monologue." Haruka tells him. He sighs. "Makoto is just the owner of a cat that made friends with Yuki. She went missing a earlier this week and apparently showed up at his house with his cat, and he came here to return her. We ended up talking, it turns out he likes swimming too, so we agreed to arrange a race sometime."

"So it's a man? A swimmer, no less? That's perfect!" Rin sings. "Is he good looking?" He asks, leaning forwards eagerly.

Haruka pauses, hesitant, but then he thinks to himself that Rin will probably never meet Makoto, so there's no harm in talking about him truthfully to his friend. And they are having a celebratory sleepover, after all, and he's supposed to gossip about the guys he likes. "He's fucking hot." Haruka says, honestly, avoiding Rin's gaze.

Rin squeals, grinning. "That's brilliant! How would you rate his arms on a scale of one to ten?"

Suddenly, Haruka turns his head slightly and looks Rin dead in the eye as he says "The scale is irrelevant. Makoto's arms are supreme, no human words could possibly describe them. They are the best arms I have ever laid my innocent eyes upon. I honestly took one look at them and immediately wanted him to shove his whole arm up my ass. Makoto's arms are simply too good for the scale. You wouldn't understand unless you saw them. Too beautiful, too pure. Fireman's arms, the kind that any t-shirt would struggle to accommodate. Can you imagine them?"

"Oh, oh yeah I can imagine them." Rin pants, his mouth hanging open. He flops backwards onto the arm of the couch, throwing one of his arms over his eyes. "I am dead. I am so gone. I haven't even seen his arms and they have already killed me."

Haruka solemnly says, "Yes. I know the feeling."  
"Actually, just then, when you were talking about Makoto's arms, that's probably the most I've ever heard you talk about someone in one go." Rin comments, not moving his arm from where it covers his face.

Haruka shrugs. A few moments are spent in which the two remain silent, reflecting on those heavenly arms. Finally, just when Haruka is about to suggest they put on a movie, Rin abruptly snaps into motion.

He shoots upwards, his arm quickly removed from his eyes, and grabs Haruka's phone back from where it rests on the couch, still unlocked. Haruka blinks, surprised and confused, and watches and Rin begins to type for a few seconds, a grin in place on his face. Really, Haruka should know what that grin means. He should recognise that it means trouble. But in the end, he sits there stupidly, watching Rin fiddle around with his phone for a second with that obvious devilish grin on his damned face, before he drops the phone on the sofa and says "There."

It takes a moment for it to sink in, but when it does, Haruka snatches up his phone and opens his text conversation with Makoto.

A new text, apparently sent by himself, appears. It reads: "Hi, Makoto. Just texting to ask if you'd like to join me and my friend for a race this weekend at the pool. My friend's name is Rin, he lives in Tokyo and he's a very good swimmer. I'll be at the pool with him tomorrow at about 7pm if you'd like to come along, too. It's after hours so it'll just be us three. Text me and let me know if you're free and want to come."

Haruka looks up at Rin, horror in his eyes. So much for "Rin will probably never meet Makoto". Fuck, and right after Haruka had told him all of those things about Makoto's arms.

Rin grins at Haruka, lopsidedly. He shoots him a thumbs up and says "My impression of your texting is improving, don't you think?"

Ignoring him, Haruka begins to mutter. "This is fine. This is totally fine." He says, talking to no one, just trying to assure himself. "I'll just text him back and tell him it was my friend who texted, and I'll tell him not to worry about coming. It'll be fine."

Rin rudely interrupts Haruka's conversation with himself. "What, and have him think that you don't want to race him? Do you really want poor Makoto to think that you don't like him?" Rin asks, his voice sounding mockingly concerned, like he already knows the answers.

"...Fuck." Haruka says. He feels betrayed. Curse him for ever trusting a man like Rin, a childish, spiteful man who just wants to salivate over the arms on Haruka's eye candy.

Curse him for being so damned smart.


	4. The Second Meeting (Feat. The Asshole Best Friend)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, it's a new chapter! Wow it's been like a whole month since I last updated and I'm so sorry about that, but this month has flown by and I didn't even realise it was almost May until like yesterday... It's really weird!
> 
> By the way, for anyone who kinda likes kaichou wa maid-sama, I wrote a little smutty one shot thing for Aoi/Usui which is LITERALLY the least popular pairing ever. Basically nobody likes the ship but I'd be very happy if you were curious enough to check it out! It's called Pretty In Blue and the link is http://archiveofourown.org/works/6555760
> 
> ANYWAY, I hope you like chapter 4!!

Rin, unsurprisingly, ends up picking the movie. Haruka doesn't mind this at all, it's what usually happens when they watch anything on the TV, but on this occasion, Rin chooses the second movie in an English series called The Hunger Games and decides that it'll be okay to just switch on the Japanese subtitles for Haruka. Again, this would be fine if the dark haired man had actually seen the first movie, but he hasn't, so it isn't.

In the end, Haruka just half-heartedly watches the film without bothering to read any of the subtitles. He doesn't really know what's going on, but Rin seems to be enjoying it, and Haruka reasons that they are supposed to be celebrating Rin's graduation from police training, so he doesn't mention that he's bored. He just lazily watches the characters murder each other on his television screen, but he's so confused about why everyone is dying that the movie ends up just making him sleepy, and within half an hour, he is dozing, then eventually, he falls asleep, with the sound of Rin's enthusiastic commentary of the movie lulling him into a peaceful slumber. 

**

The room is dark when Haruka wakes up in the middle of the night, only the dull glow of the television screen illuminating the room. This light is just enough for Haruka to be able to see Rin's sleeping face, his mouth hanging open, as usual, and his limbs flopped carelessly wherever they can rest. Yuki, at some point during the night, has come to sleep between the two men, and she is now laying comfortably across Haruka's left foot and Rin's right forearm. The movie has finished and the TV has been left on the Netflix homepage, so Haruka guesses Rin had just barely stayed awake until the end, clicking the back button on the remote before passing out. The room is pretty much silent besides the sound of Rin's heavy breathing and the occasional sleepy mewl from Yuki. 

Haruka wonders why on earth he'd woken up at such an odd time, but he is unable to think of a valid explanation. He's always slept fine on the couch, and he's used to Yuki sleeping on top of him. He doesn't normally wake without reason. Shrugging it off, he switches off the TV and decides to try and go back to sleep.

Despite the late (early?) hour, Haruka now feels fully awake. He lays back, staring at the ceiling, his eyes open and his brain running off with his thoughts. The most prominent thing on his mind is tomorrow night (tonight?), and he can't help but worry about what is going to happen when Makoto meets Rin. The red haired man can be a bit overpowering from time to time, and he's normally very loud. He's also sometimes really fucking annoying. In short, he is everything that Makoto - calm and gentle Makoto - is not.

However, no matter how strange and messed up Rin might act when they do meet at the pool, Haruka sort of knows that Makoto is too kind to be pissed off with him, and he'll probably accept Rin even if he shouts and makes rude jokes. 

But what _really_ worries Haruka is what Rin will _say_. Haruka had told him some incriminating things about what he thinks of Makoto, about how he loves his arms and his face and his entire damn body. Haruka had also technically told Rin that he wants Makoto to fist him with his entire arm. If Rin tells him about that, Haruka is going to both die of embarrassment and kill Rin with his bare hands at the same time. He supposes he'll have to threaten the red haired man before they go tomorrow, and probably bribe him a bit too, so that Rin won't let any important information slip about Haruka's opinions when he meets Makoto at the pool-

Which brings Haruka to the next thing on his mind. They are meeting at a _pool_ , and you know what pools mean. Pools mean bare chests and (hopefully) bare legs, and, most importantly, _bare arms_ , covered in water and sweat, muscles flexing with every   
movement made...

Haruka is aware that he and Makoto had agreed that they would race freestyle, but he is going to somehow get Makoto to show him his backstroke, as well. He has no doubt that it'll be a beautiful sight, and he feels as though he may not be able to control himself. Makoto's arms are magnificent, works of art in themselves even when Haruka had seen them the other day, and he can't even imagine how amazing they will look when he swims his preferred stroke. 

However, whilst Haruka is excited to see those arms again, he is also feeling a little wary about letting Rin see them. He'll let him have a glance, but he knows that he'll spend most of the evening trying to guard them from Rin's prying gaze as much as he can. You see, Makoto is _his_ eye candy, Haruka had found him first, so he wants him all to himself, thank you very much.

Taking a moment to reflect on his thoughts, Haruka cringes. Wow. Here we go. Haruka is getting all possessive without even meeting him more than once, let alone being in a relationship with him. A relationship? What makes Haruka think someone as perfect as Makoto will ever want to be with someone as _plain_ as him.

Fearing for his sanity, Haruka squeezes his eyes shut and forces himself to fall asleep, hoping that his warped mind will have sorted itself out by the time morning comes.

**

They don't get up until midday, and Haruka's mind is still a mess. 

When his eyes open once again and find that it is bright and clearly daytime outside, he can't help but feel relieved. He's happy that he won't have to deal with any more dumb night time thoughts entering his brain without his permission and making him sound like an utter psychopath. He doesn't have the energy for that.

Blinking hard, Haruka soon becomes awake and coherent enough to consider the fact that he should probably wake his friend up as well. He kicks Rin's butt several times, mumbling "Oi, Rin. Get the fuck up." at the loudest volume he can manage this soon after waking up. He is met with no reply, just a deep grumble. Rolling his eyes, Haruka gives him a final shove, using both of his feet this time, and ends up pushing Rin with enough force to knock him from the couch and onto the floor in a flailing mess until he lands on his bottom again.

"Fuck- Haru, would it kill you to wake me up normally? Just once? Please? This is the third time you've pushed me off the couch in twenty four hours! Two out of the three times I was asleep!"

Raising his eyebrows, Haruka says "Maybe if you weren't such a pain in the ass, I wouldn't have to kick you off the couch so often."  
Rin whimpers, picking himself up from the floor and walking off into the kitchen in a huff. Rolling his eyes again, Haruka sits and stares at the TV screen for a second, asking himself why he puts up with such a childish friend, before Yuki appears, having avoided the whole spectacle involving Rin falling from the couch, and looks at him expectantly. Sighing, he stands and makes his own way into the kitchen. He has two animals to feed, a domestic cat and a wild human. What a joy.

He makes them a breakfast (lunch?) of fried fish for Haruka and Yuki and a bowl of sugarpuffs (yes, Rin is, in fact, an 8 year old) for Rin. Then, once they've eaten, Rin suggests they go shopping and Haruka, after desperately attempting to think of a reason not to, agrees that it'd be a good idea, because he is kind of running out of food. When they head out, he lets Rin drive, assuming they'd just go grocery shopping, but Rin, clearly having other ideas, drives them right past the market and takes them to the sports shop.

"Gotta get you some new gear for your hot date." He says as they pull up.

Haruka has to stop himself from replying "Fuck you, it isn't a date." like a stubborn teenager, and luckily, he succeeds, otherwise he knows Rin would've teased him about it mercilessly for the whole weekend, without a doubt.

Rin tries on a large number of swimming trunks, even though he doesn't really have to. It's quite amusing, Haruka has to reluctantly admit, because Rin manages to choose the most offensive and ridiculous outfits, for example a pair of bright green speedos with "my eyes are up here" written on the front below an arrow pointing upwards, which he somehow found hilariously funny. He also manages to pull some very fucking strange and mildly disturbing poses whilst he models them.

In the end, Rin buys nothing, having wasted at least an hour of their time trying things on, but Haruka does buy some new trunks. Lets face it, I don't have to describe them, you know which ones he buys. Yes, those ones.

Finally, Haruka manages to drag Rin back to the car, and makes him drive them back to the market so they can go actual food shopping. Unsurprisingly, Rin bleeds Haruka's wallet dry with the amount of junk food and booze he makes him buy. Shrugging, Haruka accepts his fate. This happens most of the time, it's not like he wasn't expecting it. He is aware of the fact that he is Rin's bank when he comes to stay and there is no avoiding it.

By the time they arrive home, Haruka is beginning to feel the nerves kick in again, the ones he'd been battling the previous night. He tells Rin put their shopping away in the cupboards by himself, using the excuse that he doesn't feel all that well, and goes to lie down on the couch. Rin does as he is asked, despite how he grumbles to himself about it as he does so, and Haruka is allowed to lay by himself in the quietness of the living room. Eventually, he closes his eyes and falls asleep on the couch for the second time in the last twenty four hours, his mind filled with thoughts of Makoto's beautiful arms and his even more beautiful personality.

**

Rin wakes him up with a gentle shake of his shoulder. "Yo." He whispers. "You feeling better? We have to leave soon and you kind of need to get up now if you want us to be on time."

"Fuck." Haruka mumbles, refusing to open his eyes yet. He lays there for a few long seconds, wondering why he'd been sleeping on the couch rather than in his bed, before he remembers that he'd gone to take a nap when they'd gotten back from grocery shopping. Then he remembers why he'd taken a nap in the first place, and his eyes snap open, suddenly very aware of the fact that he's going to meet Makoto soon, in the presence of Rin. Fuck, he's so fucking nervous, he can't stop thinking about it. He kind of wants to go back to sleep. "Ugh, how long was I out?"

"Well it's like half six now, so pretty much the whole afternoon. You were out like a light, man, I was watching Attack on Titan on the TV at full volume and you didn't even wake up for a second. You feeling better?"

Shrugging, Haruka says "I'm alright. I was just tired." before he sits himself up slowly, feeling like he's still mostly asleep, and glances up at Rin, who's staring down at him with his standard lopsided grin.

"So," The red haired man begins. "You ready to meet with your man? I'm looking forward to seeing him, I've got so many things to talk to him about." An evil gleam is noticeable in his eyes. He smirks. "For example, I need to discuss with him about how you told me you want him to fist your ass-"

Choking on air, Haruka's eyes widen and he waves his hands frantically in front of Rin's face, yelling "Stop right there! Say no more!" and sitting up, feeling more awake than ever. "How much do I have to pay for your secrecy?"  
Rin grins devilishly. He taps his chin and pretends to do calculations in his head. "Hmm, five thousand yen and my lips are sealed."

"Fuck off, I'll give you two thousand."

"No way, that's not enough-"

Haruka scoffs. "May I remind you that I've paid for all of your food this weekend as well."

"Ugh, is that seriously your final offer?"

"Yes. Take it or leave it."

"Fine, deal. You're lucky I need the money otherwise I'd turn you down out of spite and just spill everything anyway." Rin mutters. "But okay, I won't tell him about your creepy arm fetish or anything else you told me, and you have to give me that two thousand when we get home, okay?"

"Yes, fine, Jesus," Haruka grumbles. "I can't believe I have to pay you to not tell him all my secrets. You're such a bad best friend. I prefer Nagisa."

Rin just laughs. "The world is a cruel place, Haruka, there is no room for best friends. Meet me at the front door in twenty, asshole, that's when we gotta leave."

With some vague mutter of acknowledgement, Haruka stands and goes to get ready, thinking to himself that he has to find himself a new best friend soon.

**

"Okay, you go and unlock the doors to the pool with that magic employee key of yours, and I'll run ahead and get changed. The locker room door will be open as usual, yeah?" Rin asks, bouncing on his toes with excitement.

"Yeah, go ahead." Haruka says, only a slightly confused by Rin's excitement. The red haired man jogs ahead and disappears around a corner in the distance. Haruka, however, is willing to put off the future for as long as possible, and keeps a slow and steady pace until reaches the door to the pools. He pulls out the key which the manager had given him when he had started working there, and uses it to unlock the doors. Taking a step inside, Haruka inhales the familiar smell of chlorine and feels himself relax, comforted by the aroma which he is so used to. His eyes slip shut and, in that moment, as he stands in the doorway leading to where the swimming pool is, he is completely content with himself.

And that is how he is standing when his phone vibrates in his pocket, breaking him out of his trance. He sighs and slips the device from his jacket, unlocking it to find a text from Makoto, reading "I'm almost at the sports centre, where are you guys meeting?"

Haruka's heart flutters for no reason. He hurriedly shakes himself, gathering his thoughts just enough to reply with a quick "I'll be heading to the locker rooms in a second to change, so you can meet us there, if you like."

A minute later, Makoto replies "Sure:)" and Haruka turns to exit the room and head to the locker room, where Rin had already headed to earlier.

When he opens the door to the changing rooms and takes a step inside, he is startled by Rin, dressed in only his swimsuit and goggles, literally appearing from thin air and sprinting straight past him, yelling "See you in the pool!" over his shoulder before he disappears around the corner, out of Haruka's sight.

Rolling his eyes at his ridiculous best friend, Haruka strips off his clothes, folding them neatly on the bench next to Rin's pile of stuff. Haruka is, of course, wearing his shorts already underneath his clothes, so he doesn't have to do anything else except grab his goggles from his backpack and mentally prepare himself. Glancing at his phone to see if he's received anything from Makoto and finding nothing, Haruka decides to sit on the bench and wait for him to show up. It'd be rude to let him find the locker rooms and find no one there, especially since Haruka invited him (even though it was technically Rin but whatever).

Eventually, after a few minutes of waiting, the door opens and Makoto himself peaks inside. He appears slightly anxious, but when his eyes land on Haruka, his face relaxes. "Oh, phew, I found you!" He steps into the room fully and quickly shuts the door behind him.

"Uh, did you get lost?" Haruka asks, curiously, wondering why the taller man had said "I found you" rather than "Hello" or something.

"Huh? Oh, no, I know this sports centre quite well." Makoto says, not elaborating any further. He looks around at the locker room, refusing to make eye contact with Haruka at all. 

Furrowing his eyebrows, Haruka decides to just shrug it off. He stands and moving so that Makoto can put his stuff down next to theirs, which he does.

"Where's your friend?" Makoto asks, gesturing to Rin's pile.

"He got impatient and went ahead to the pool already. He was really excited, actually, it's been a few months since he last swam here." Haruka tells him.

"Oh, yeah, you mentioned that he lives in Tokyo right?" Makoto says with a smile.

"Yeah, he's training to be a police officer." Haruka tells him.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" He exclaims with a wide smile before he begins to unbutton the shirt he's wearing. Haruka catches a glimpse of his smooth, pale chest and his little pink nipples, standing erect on his chest in the chilly air of the locker room, and he feels a flush rising on his cheeks.

His eyes flit around the room, anxiously trying to look anywhere except the tempting sight of Makoto's broad, muscular chest. He stands, abruptly, stumbling for an excuse to leave. "I- Uh, I should probably go and join him, so you can get changed by yourself here in peace-"

All of a sudden, Makoto's whole posture completely shifts from relaxed to tense, and he is standing as stiff as a pole in the middle of the locker room, his arms half trapped in the shirt he'd been taking off, staring at Haruka with an expression of pure horror. "No!"

Haruka freezes. "Uh, why?"

Then Makoto's cheeks flush red and he let's out an awkward laugh. "Um, yeah, that's the thing. You see, it's dark in here and I get scared quite easily, that's why I was so relieved to find you earlier. I don't like being alone."

Haruka's lips lift into a tiny, endeared smile. If he previously thought this man couldn't get any cuter, he was just proved wrong. "Ah, I see." He says, sitting back down again.

"That's why I have so many cats, I suppose, I haven't got a roommate and it's nice to have someone around."  
Impossible. He just got even cuter. When will it stop?

"Okay, I'll change quickly, I don't want to keep your friend waiting!" He exclaims hurriedly, taking his shirt off the rest of the way and continuing to get ready, tripping over his feet adorably on his way to get his trunks.

Well, one thing is certain, this man is going to ruin Haruka, and Haruka is going to fucking love it.

**

He and Makoto are just outside the doors to the pool when something occurs to Haruka. He suddenly stops in his tracks and reaches out to press his fingertips to Makoto's (surprisingly soft but just firm enough) bicep, urging him to stop with him. The taller man looks down at him questioningly, halting his steps without a problem.

Shuffling from foot to foot nervously, Haruka takes a deep breath. "Okay, before we go in, let me just warn you that my friend is a strange man who is quite famous for being a complete idiot, so please don't take most of what he says seriously, because a lot of the time he's just joking."

Makoto is quiet for a second before he laughs quietly. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." 

Relieved that he understands, Haruka reluctantly removes his hand from Makoto's arm and they begin walking again, making their way through the doors to the pool.

And the first thing Haruka sees is Rin, emerging from the pool water after presumably finishing a lap, pushing his sopping wet hair out of his eyes and trying to catch his breath. He stands, looking back in the direction he came from, scowling at the other side of the pool like it'd consciously harmed him. He looks rather gorgeous, though Haruka would never say it aloud, his back muscles highlighted by the water droplets running down his back. They sparkle in the moonlight which is streaming through the several floor length windows which take up pretty much the whole far left wall.

For some reason, both Haruka and Makoto are silent as they head towards the pool to greet him, and soon, they're standing at the edge of the water, looking down at the red haired man. Rin appears to be just about to surge off to swim another lap when Haruka speaks.

"Rin." He says, getting his attention.

Yelling, the man in question spins around in shock, having not heard them approach, and stares up at them with wide eyes. His eyes eventually drift from his best friend to the taller man next to him, and Haruka can literally see the shift of emotion in his eyes, from pure surprise to pure lust. His gaze runs up and down the man's muscular figure, and despite how Haruka feels a little possessive, he reasons that he'd known from the start that Rin would want to appreciate the view as well, and staring was to be expected, so there was no reason to get jealous.

Under his breath, Rin whispers, in English, "Daddy." That word is probably one of the only English words Haruka recognises, and he even understands the underlying dirty meaning it has. Luckily, Rin says it at such a low volume that if you didn't know him like Haruka does, you wouldn't be able to tell that he'd even said it.

"Sorry?" Makoto asks, confused, having only caught a low mumble which was too quiet for any words to be audible.

"Oh, I said 'good day'." Rin says, automatically, saying another English phrase. "I lived in Australia for a while. They say that a lot there as a greeting." It's a bad cover up and it doesn't even make fit, but Makoto accepts it, because he's adorable and he trusts everyone too much for his own good.

"Ah," Haruka says, remembering himself. "Makoto, this is Matsuoka Rin, my-" He pauses. "Childhood friend, I suppose. And Rin, this is Tachibana Makoto, the guy who found my cat."

Makoto bows slightly in greeting, a smile fixed on his adorable little face. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Matsuoka-kun!"  
"Oh, call me Rin, please." Rin purrs, coming to lean his elbow on the edge of the pool. "But, believe me, Tachibana-kun, the pleasure is all mine."

Chuckling politely, albeit awkwardly, Makoto says "Ah, you can call me Makoto."

Haruka clears his throat. "So do you guys want to race? Should I go and grab a stopwatch from the storeroom?"

"Good idea, Haru," Rin says with a grin, not taking his eyes off of Makoto, who appears to be handling the situation rather well. "We'll definitely be needing a stopwatch, I'll stay here with Makoto whilst you go and grab us one."

Haruka blinks, then curses himself, realising his mistake. However, it's too late to take it back, so he quickly says "Uh, okay." then spins on his heel to speed walk as fast as possible into the storeroom so he can make it back before Rin can say something weird.

When he gets back, Makoto is sitting on the edge of the pool and Rin has pulled himself up to sit beside him, chatting to him animatedly. Haruka approaches just as he is saying, "And that is when I came to the conclusion that calling your boyfriend by the wrong name whilst he's balls deep inside your ass is the best way to offend and insult him if you find out that he's cheating on you."

It is then Haruka realises that he is too late. The damage is already done. Rin has said something weird, and there is nothing he can do about it, Makoto is probably going to be annoyed at him for bringing Rin with him, and he probably won't want to be friends with Haruka anymore. It is his fault, he supposes for allowing Rin text him on his phone, he shouldn't have let his guard down-

Suddenly, his thoughts are cut off when Makoto does something that Haruka isn't expecting at all. He laughs, a genuine "what a funny joke" laugh, no awkwardness or politeness hidden within it, only amusement. It's a beautiful sound, just like the rest of him, and Haruka thinks that he'd never tire of hearing it if he heard it everyday. Rin laughs along with him, he has always been one to enjoy having his jokes appreciated, and together they sit by the pool giggling to themselves like they've been friends for years.

And Haruka observes, from a distance, feeling his heart warm. He is so _relieved_ , and it's ridiculous because Makoto is just a random guy who he hasn't even known for a full week. Why does his opinion matter to Haruka so much? Why does Haruka feel so pleased that he is getting along with his best friend?

Haruka decides to ignore these thoughts. He pushes them to the back of his mind and instead goes to sit beside them both, prepared to enjoy a nice evening with an old friend and a new one. He can't seem to stop smiling.


	5. No Compulsory Threesomes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *enter way too many overused haru x mackerel jokes*
> 
> Basically I wrote a majority of this in the middle of the night so the jokes are a bit strange but I found them hilariously funny at the time and decided to leave them in there I'm sorry. Also, some of them are a bit dirty but blame that on my OOC Rin haha!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chapter, I don't really have anything else to say but please let me know if you spot any spelling or grammar mistakes!
> 
> UPDATE: I forgot to say earlier but I have a new gender swap kagehina fic that you guys should check out if you watch haikyuu???? It's called "The Silence Is So Loud (Without You)"

At the beginning of the evening, he'd been completely prepared for the worst, but Haruka has to say that the whole situation ends up being rather enjoyable. He has a lot of fun with his two friends, and none of the terrible things he'd thought would happen actually happen, much to his utter relief.

After the three of them spend some time talking at the side of the pool, they decide that they should first of all race freestyle. Haruka beats Rin by mere seconds (who afterwards claims very loudly that he is just "out of practice") and Makoto finishes last by a slightly larger margin (which he later giggles adorably about and mumbles that he'd known he was going to lose as soon as he'd seen Rin's swimming at the beginning of the evening. "I could never be that talented." he says, laughing quietly, and Haruka is both completely charmed by his cuteness and also jealous because why is Makoto complimenting Rin? However, the sound of his voice as he says it is so completely pure and innocent that Haruka immediately forgives him and forgets his jealousy.)

Then, after a little convincing on Haruka's part, and a few seconds of bashful shuffling on Makoto's, Rin agrees to race Makoto in backstroke, and Haruka watches from the side of the pool, entirely ignoring Rin and instead watching Makoto's beautiful arm muscles work as he swims. Haruka is disappointed that he can't appreciate the full beauty of the man's leg muscles because of his choice of swimwear, but his wonderfully exposed chest makes up for that entirely.

Haruka wonders when on earth he'd managed to turn into as big of a muscle fanatic as Gou.

Makoto beats Rin in that race, and Rin is surprisingly gracious about losing, which isn't like him at all. Haruka is immediately suspicious. The red-haired man just slaps Makoto on the back and says "You got me this time, eh?" in an uncharacteristically polite voice. Haruka suspects that he is simply under the effects of Makoto's ruthless charms, and he also suspects that Rin doesn't want to upset him or make him feel like he shouldn't have won. Haruka can't blame Rin for this, however, because he's totally guilty of it too. Instead of getting angry about losing the race, Rin demands a rematch from Haruka, and Makoto decides to sit out.

They race, Haruka wins again, and Makoto congratulates him, saying "You swim beautifully, Haru-chan." in such an admiring tone that it makes Haruka blush a million shades of red. Rin pouts and grumbles under his breath, looking off into the distance darkly as he usually does. Only this time, Haruka isn't sure if he's actually pouting about losing or about the fact that Makoto didn't compliment his swimming, too.

The rest of the evening is spent messing around, giggling, and racing a few more times. It's wonderful, quite refreshing, and Haruka finds himself smiling at everything Makoto says, even the things that aren't necessarily funny or cute, just rather mundane. It's probably a little creepy, but Haruka can't bring himself care. Makoto makes him feel like this, he can't help it. It is entirely Makoto's fault for being so utterly perfect. Haruka swears he smiles more that evening than he has in an entire year.

When they decide to call it a day, it's about ten o'clock in the evening, so they all help to clean the pool and tidy up after themselves, yadda yadda, responsible bullshit, then Haruka locks everything up. Then, the three of them head back to the changing rooms together to put their clothes back on.

"We didn't even use the damn stopwatch." Haruka mutters as he towel dries himself and slides his clothes back onto his body.

"Oh. Oops." Makoto says.

"Oh well." Rin shrugs.

They leave, satisfied after their swim, and the three men head out together, Rin and Makoto excitedly discussing a DS game they both play and Haruka listening half-heartedly. When the cool breeze of the outside hits them, they find the streets extremely dark, lit only by the dim street lamps which are spread far too sparsely along the length of the road to provide any real light.

Rin and Haruka are just about to part ways with Makoto and agree that they should do this again sometime, but before they can leave, the three of them abruptly pause for a moment when they catch sight of what is above them. It's a very clear night, not a cloud within their vision, only a sky full of shimmering little stars which light up the street much more than the street lamps ever could. "The stars don't look like this in Tokyo." Rin says softly. They stand, mesmerised, and stare upwards in awe, feeling at peace with each other and themselves.

"I kind of don't want to go home yet." Makoto admits, shyly.

Haruka mumbles a quiet agreement and innocently shifts his weight from one leg to another, causing the back of his hand to brush lightly against the back of Makoto's. At first, Haruka feels like he wants to scream because _holy fuck Makoto touched me with his actual hand oh my god what does this mean_ , but his over-thinking is brought to an abrupt end when the unthinkable happens, and Haruka loses the ability to think at all. Makoto's hand flexes violently and jerks out to grab a hold of Haruka's, tangling their fingers together. Haruka's entire body lurches in surprise, and his poor mind is rendered useless yet again, unable to comprehend a single thing. The touch is intimate, and Haruka's breath catches in his throat when he notices that Makoto's fingers are beautifully soft, just as he'd thought they would be. His grip is surprisingly tight, though, as if he is clinging on for dear life, begging Haruka to keep him on Earth, to anchor him. Haruka looks over at Makoto's face, and sees that the man is lost in thought, his eyes fixed on the star-filled sky above them, and his lips parted in awe.

The moment is precious, and Haruka never wants it to end.

But as always, Rin is there to ruin the moment. "Do you guys, like, wanna go get ramen or something?" He asks obliviously, and Haruka immediately feels like he wants to turn around a slap Rin across the face for being such a fucking idiot.

He can't, though, all he can do is watch helplessly as Makoto shakes himself out of his trance, his eyes widening in shock and embarrassment when he realises that he is gripping Haruka's hand quite violently. Awkwardly, he snatches his hand out of Haruka's as if it's on fire, and says, in a quiet voice, "Sorry about that, Haru-chan."

Haruka is about to tell Makoto that it's fine, that he doesn't mind at all, and in fact, he'd feel honoured to hold Makoto's hand like that everyday if he were able to. But before he can tell him, Rin interrupts again, still oblivious, and asks in a confused voice, "Yo, you guys are acting weird, is everything ok? Do you not wanna get ramen? Because like it's not that big of a deal, we can totally skip it-"

"No, Rin, that's not it," Makoto tells him, his voice more frail than it had been earlier. "Let's get ramen, I'd like that."

Rin glances between Haruka and Makoto suspiciously. "Um, alright." He says. "There's a place down town, did you drive here, Makoto?"

Makoto shakes his head. "Nope, my car's at home, I got the bus."

Grinning, Rin pulls the keys to Haruka's car out of his back pocket. "Perfect, I'll drive us." He says, and sets off to find where they'd parked, leaving Makoto and Haruka to follow behind him in an awkward silence.

**

After a decidedly normal drive - by a "normal drive" Haruka means a drive in which Rin does a lot of talking and driving dangerously above the speed limit and Haruka and Makoto do a lot of fearing for the safety of their own lives - they finally arrive at the ramen place that Rin had spoken of. It's a small, brightly lit place, and despite the fact Haruka had never been there before, it looks pleasant, and, most importantly, the menu displayed outside shows that they sell a ramen dish with smoked mackerel, and as far as Haruka is concerned, that is a sign of quality.

When the three of them enter, they find themselves a table and order from a waitress with bright green hair who comes over to serve them. When Haruka orders, Rin snorts and mutters "so predictable", but luckily, the dark haired man is very talented at ignoring everything Rin says, and does not react.

Sweet and innocent Makoto, however, isn't so skilled in that area. "Why is mackerel predictable?" He asks, confused.

"It isn't." Haruka tells him.

At the same time, Rin says, "Because it's Haru."

Makoto does not ask any further questions.

As they wait for their meals, Rin excuses himself to go to the bathroom, leaving only Haruka and Makoto at the table. For a few moments after Rin leaves his seat and strolls away, oblivious to the situation he's leaving behind him, the two of them remain quiet, awkwardly avoiding talking to each other. Then, Makoto speaks, effectively breaking the stiff silence. "You seem a little off, Haru-chan. Are you ok? If this is about earlier-"

"I'm okay. It's okay." Haruka assures him before he can go on, already knowing how the man is going to end his sentence.  
Seeming uncertain, Makoto asks "Are... Are you sure?"

Haruka looks at him. "What happened earlier didn't bother me at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed holding your hand."

Makoto blinks in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, you have very soft hands." Haruka tells him, seriously, swallowing his pride.

"But-" Makoto begins, eyebrows furrowing. "I thought it made you uncomfortable!"

"Why would it make me uncomfortable?"

"Because, I mean, most guys would be a little weirded out if another guy just started holding their hand whilst they stand outside in the middle of the night and look up at the stars together!"

Haruka snorts. "First of all, I'm gay, and I see Rin on a regular basis, who is also gay and very over-affectionate. I also see Nagisa, who I'm assuming you don't know, and he is the single most affectionate person I've ever met. If a little hand-holding bothered me, I'd have gone crazy years ago."

Makoto is quiet for a minute. Haruka doesn't know how to take this.

"I was probably the opposite of freaked out by your surprise attack hand-holding." Haruka finishes.

"Then why have you been so quiet since it happened?"

A laugh escapes Haruka's mouth. "Because you were being quiet as well! I'd assumed we were both doing the extremely awkward silence thing!" Haruka exclaims. "Plus, I didn't get the chance to tell you I wasn't bothered by it before we left for ramen, and I didn't know how to bring it up."

It takes Makoto a while to react, but eventually, he laughs a little as well. "Well, a least that's been cleared up now." He mutters, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah." Haruka says, smiling back.

At that moment, Rin swings back into his seat at the table. "What did I miss?"

The two men at the table stare at him in confusion. "That was quick." Haruka says.

The satisfied smirk on Rin's face suggests that maybe he hadn't been completely clueless about what was going on when he had left to go to the bathroom. After a moment, he says "I'm a quick pisser.", then bursts into laughter.

Makoto looks at Haruka questioningly.

"I don't know. Don't ask him, because he will tell you, and it will be weird." Haruka warns him.

The taller man nods, and takes his advice.

**

They eat in a comfortable absence of conversation once their food arrives at the table in the hands of their waitress. Haruka is very pleased by the sight of his food, and cannot keep the happiness from showing on his face as he digs in. Rin snickers loudly when he notices the satisfied smile on his best friend's face, Haruka kicks him under the table to shut him up, and Makoto says nothing but "I still don't get the mackerel thing." and neither Rin nor Haruka bother answering him. The poor boy will figure it out on his own, eventually.

The next half an hour is devoid of conversation until they have eaten everything in front of them. They collectively decide to pay as soon as possible and leave before the place closes at midnight, and it's already half past eleven by the time they head back to the car.

"You want to come back to Haru's?" Rin asks and looks over his shoulder at Makoto, who is hovering outside the door uncertainly as if he isn't quite sure about whether he is supposed to get in or not. Rin waves a hand for him to get in, and he does, shutting the door behind him.

"Oh- No, no," Makoto waves his hands, stuttering nervously. "Y- You don't have to do that, I don't want to overstep any boundaries, but, uh, I'd be grateful if you could drop me off at the sports centre because I don't know where to get the bus home from here..."

Rin blinks and asks "You sure? I mean, Haru's totally cool with you coming over to stay, it could totally a bro night with bro bonding time and we could do some totally bro things together-"

"Rin," Haruka says slowly, cutting him off. "I'd appreciate it if you would stop making it sound like we're asking him to have a threesome." He looks at Makoto reassuringly. "You don't need to have a threesome with us."

Makoto chokes out a laugh, and Rin nods seriously. "Yes, no compulsory threesomes. Just a sleepover, no homo." He laughs. "Jokes, totally homo, it'll involve two extremely gay men, after all."

"Three." Makoto blurts out, then flushes red. "I'm gay too, in case you were wondering."

Haruka grins internally, thanking his lucky stars for this wonderful information, whilst Rin grins externally, completely unashamedly pleased with this discovery. "Perfect, then you'll fit right in."

"I'd still rather not stay over tonight, though," Makoto says, regretfully. "Despite how fun this gay bro bonding time sounds, I really hate leaving my cats by themselves when I haven't put out their blankets and beds and stuff. I'm sorry."

"That's ok, you don't have to come." Haruka reassures him, trying not to cry at how adorable Makoto is when he exists.

"We'll drive you home!" Rin says loudly.

Despite how Makoto tries to tell them that he'd be fine catching the bus, neither Rin nor Haruka will accept it. Eventually, Rin demands "Where do you live?" in a very forceful manor and Makoto chokes out his address without a second thought, sounding mildly terrified.

They drive him home in a pleasant silence, only speaking occasionally when Makoto needs to tell Rin to take a turn, or when the red-haired man feels the need to make a dumb joke and Haruka needs to tell him to shut up.

Eventually, the three of them arrive at his house, and Makoto stutters out a "Thank you for the ride!", giving them a clumsy bow. In response, Rin laughs, loud and fond, and slaps him on the back good-naturedly. Haruka just huffs, smiling a little smile which he'd never admit is a smile of endearment.

"We should totally do this again sometime," Rin declares. "Next time I'm in town."

"I'd like that." says Makoto, nodding. He turns to Haruka with a friendly grin. "And we should meet up while Rin is away as well, Haru-chan. Maybe for coffee or something."

Haruka can't help but feel the uncontrollable urge to giggle happily like a school girl with her first ever crush. "Yeah, we could totally do that, like, uh, yeah. Sounds chill." He says quickly, then cringes, because he sounds like a twelve year old and he hates himself.

Predictably, Rin has to make a fucking joke about it. He gasps, bringing a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Hold it right there, are you saying that you guys would cheat on me like that? How fickle!"

"Ignore him." Haruka tells the taller man, who seems to be rather confused. "He's joking, we're not dating."

"There you go again, denying the existence of our relationship!"

Adorably, Makoto laughs shyly and says "I'd like to meet with you, Haru-chan. I'll text you at some point next week to arrange something."

Haruka smiles. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Then Makoto thanks them for a final time and Rin and Haruka bid him goodbye and good night, before Makoto hops out of the car and the two of them drive back to Haruka's house, neither of them talking until they have stumbled inside and taken refuge on the couch.

"I hereby give you permission to date Makoto." Rin announces, breaking the silence as he flops backwards onto the couch and takes up a majority of the space with his long limbs again.

Squeezing in next to him gingerly, Haruka frowns and asks "What?"

"I will allow you to date Makoto, but only because of the fact that I am about to become your number one shipper,"

"Um- thanks, I guess-"

"And also because I have my sights set on my BFFL Rei-chan, and I will succeed in making him my bride."

Haruka sighs. "Ok, but please don't kidnap him and force him to wear a wedding dress, I'll probably get fired if you do."

Rin looks him dead in the eye and says "It's a shit job, if you got fired because I kidnapped Rei-chan, I'd be doing you a favour. Also, that way, you'd have to live with me, and I'm the best."

"Alright, but you'd also probably get arrested for it, so please just try to woo him safely and consensually."

"Of course." Rin assures him seriously. "I will woo him safely and consensually. No problemo. I'm awesome, how will he be able to resist me?"

Then Haruka sighs, shaking his head exasperatedly. "Good luck with that, I suppose."

**

The next two days go by ridiculously quickly, and Haruka only has the chance to spend half of this time with Rin. To be fair, it isn't Haruka's fault, and it is actually because of the fact that the red-haired man insists on visiting Rei frequently enough for it to become weird, and Haruka refuses to be a part of it. Rin seems to be happy, though, so the dark-haired man doesn't think it bothers him that he can't see his best friend as much as he normally does when he comes to stay.

On Monday afternoon, just hours before he is due to leave, Rin slams Haruka's front door open, startling Yuki from her seat on a shelf of Haruka's bookcase, and Haruka himself turns to look at him from where he is sitting on the stairs, reading a crappy TV magazine in a moment of weakness. Rin's grin is smug and shark-like as it usually is, but a particular gleam in his eyes tells Haruka that he must have achieved something today, and this immediately worries him.

"What did you do?" Haruka asks warningly.

Clearing his throat, Rin pulls out a yellow post-it note with a scribbled series of digits on it. "Today, let it be known that I, Matsuoka Rin, have obtained the cellphone number AND Snapchat details of Ryuugazaki Rei."

Haruka narrows his eyes. "Who did you have to kill to get that? Who did you hire to hack for you?"

Rin gasps. "Nanase Haruka, I am thoroughly offended that you would think so lowly of me. I would not kill, and I do not have the money to pay someone to hack for me. Also, is it so fucking unbelievable that Rei-chan would actually like me? Dammit, if I knew you thought I was that awful, then I would've done something about it-"

"Rin. You know that's not what I think of you." Haruka says seriously. "I just find it hard to imagine you both getting on. I mean, it's just that you're so-" He waves his hand in the direction of Rin's whole body. "-loud and outgoing. And he's so-" He waves the same hand in the other direction. "-shy and withdrawn. Plus, it really seemed like he was scared of you on Friday."

Rin nods. "I see what you mean. We've bonded since then, though. We actually started really talking yesterday morning and it turns out we have a lot in common, so we do get along more now, even though he still blushes a lot around me. When I told him that I was leaving today, he gave me this-" Rin raises his hand which is holding the yellow post-it note. "-and told me that he likes me a lot and that I should text him this week if I want to." Rin sighs happily, putting his palms on his cheeks. "He's so adorable. He calls me Rin-senpai. I want to marry him."

Haruka can't help but smile one of his small fond smiles. "I'm glad you guys are getting along."

Rin nods and moves into the living room, motioning for Haruka to follow, then they both sit on the couch next to each other. "What about you, then?" Rin asks. "Have you texted Makoto?"

Haruka shakes his head. "No, I don't really know what to say."

"Oh, fuck off, it's easy. You just gotta tell him you think he's hot and then casually suggest that he comes over to your house for a fuck. But don't forget to drop hints that he should bring his firefighter uniform, because damn, I don't know about you, but I'd want him to fuck me wearing one of those jackets and spank me with his hose pipe-"

Haruka chokes on air. "Don't mess around, Rin-"

"Don't lie, you know you want it-"

They're interrupted by the sound of a phone buzzing, and they both fall onto silence as they search for the source of the sound. They soon realise that it is Haruka's cellphone, sitting innocently on the coffee table. They both stare at it as the screen lights up, waiting to see who is calling. The caller ID reads 'Tachibana Makoto'.

And the two of them simultaneously freak out.

"I'm not ready to talk to him on the phone yet! I can't do it! It's too intimate, I'm not ready-" Haruka hisses in panic.

"Fucking hell, we spent hours talking to him face to face yesterday, and we were half naked with him for most of that time! You can fucking talk to him on the phone!"

"I can't!"

"If you don't do it, I will!"

"I can't talk to him-"

"Are you listening to me? If you don't, I'll answer it for you and tell him that you're busy jacking off to the thought of his firefighter uniform and his long thick hose-"

"No!"

"I'll do it."

"Rin, please just let it ring out!"

"Fine." Rin leaps towards the mobile phone with his hands outstretched.

Without thinking, Haruka launches himself off of the couch, and time slows down as the two of them race in mid air to reach Haruka's buzzing phone. Fortunately, Haruka gets it first, purely because he lands closer to the actual coffee table, whereas Rin lands closer to the TV and his head slams into Haruka's stack of DVDs. Haruka sprints off into the kitchen, clutching his phone. He clicks the answer button and chokes out a strained "H-Hello?" into the speaker, trying to catch his breath.

"Oh- Hello, it's Makoto," The man himself says on the other end of the line. "Are you ok? You sound breathless."

"I'm fine, I literally just raced Rin, that's why I'm out of breath."

"Oh, you're at the pool?"

"No. Just running around at home." Haruka says, then adds, quietly, "I'm pretty sure Rin just broke Harry Potter with his head."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, okay." Makoto says, understandingly. He then seems to realise that he was the one who rang Haruka. "Oh, yeah, I was just calling to see if you'd like to get coffee tomorrow? I could bring Miki to yours and let him see Yuki whilst we're out."

Haruka is quiet for a minute, his breathing evening out slightly, just taking in how wonderful the moment is.

Makoto, the insecure and pure soul he is, immediately seems to take his silence the wrong way. "I mean- it's totally ok if you don't want to-"

Shaking his head, Haruka smiles and cuts him off. "No, no, I'd love that. And so would Yuki."

Makoto's sigh of relief fills Haruka's ears. It's such a sweet, caring sound that Haruka almost cries with delight and happiness that he has been given the chance to be friends with such a pure creature. Makoto's smile is audible in his voice as he says. "Then I'll see you tomorrow, Haru-chan."

And Haruka is ridiculously happy, smiling like an idiot as he says "See you tomorrow, Makoto."


	6. It's Not A Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feat. Rin, alone in Tokyo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, it has been a long ass time since I last updated. Like, seriously, chapter 5 was posted in May, and it is now the end of July. I've been busy with shit at school and every time I tried to write anything, it was so late at night that I just sort of fell asleep in front of my laptop. I'm so lame, it's totally ok if you hate me, because I hate me too.
> 
> Anyway, the chapter is here, and it includes a completely pointless scene involving Rin doing absolutely nothing. You'll have to wade through my Rin scene to get to the MakoHaru part, and I apologise for that. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
> 
> OH and I woke up last night and decided to make a Twitter for this ao3 account, so if you'd like to see a lot of amusing retweets and then the occasional self-deprecating joke involving my horrifying tendency to procrastinate, please follow @oikawizard. I made it yesterday and I don't really understand Twitter yet, but I'll probably get the hang of it. Feel free to @ me and complain about my writing.

"Matsuoka-san! Nice work!" Someone yells as they pass Rin in the hallway outside the break room. The red haired man jumps and turns around to look at the person, one arm shoved inside his jacket and the other holding his mobile phone, a lollipop between his lips, and finds that a man he recognises as Tadokoro Kei has stopped in the corridor and is watching him with a cheerful grin.

Completely drained after a long early morning shift of disgusting desk work, Rin inwardly groans at the thought of socialising. He fucking cannot be bothered, not today, not after all of the shit he's been through. Outwardly, however, he removes the lollipop from his mouth and forces himself to appear positive as he greets Tadokoro in return.

"You too, nice work!" He replies, giving the man an admittedly rather half-arsed polite smile. Tadokoro is a nice guy, he's one of the men that Rin had spent months in training with before their group were eligible to earn their badges, and he doesn't deserve to be victim of Rin's abysmal mood. Rin won't let himself be mean to him by accident.

Tadokoro, oblivious to Rin's internal struggle, only smiles and attempts to continue the conversation. He nods towards Rin's bag, which is laying slumped over and half open on the floor, and he asks "You heading home?"

This is where Rin decides to put his few years of (kind of pointless) drama classes to good use. He lies. He shouldn't, he knows he shouldn't, it'll probably come back to bite him in the ass at a later date, but he's so tired that he just doesn't care anymore. He scratches the back of his neck, smiling, and says "Ah, yeah, you see, I've actually got somewhere I need to be soon. In fact, I'm already running late, so I'd better go, Tadokoro-san."

Tadokoro's eyes widen and he nods quickly. "Oh! Okay, I'll leave you to it, then! See you tomorrow, Matsuoka-san!" He calls as he scuttles off around the corner and out of sight.

Guiltily, Rin sighs in relief.

The guilt doesn't last long, though. Rin returns the lollipop to his mouth and pulls his jacket on, picking up his bag as quickly as physically possible, trying to escape whilst he can. Then, he literally runs out of the building and around the corner to the bus stop before he can bump into anyone else.

After considering his options, Rin decides that he doesn't really want to go home, because when he gets there, he's sure he'll just end up watching some shitty English soaps like Eastenders, Emmerdale or Home and Away (for a little slice of Australia to remind him of the good ol' days) and consequently waste his entire day sitting in front of the TV. Instead, he catches the bus to the park near his apartment, and makes his way towards the swings.

Luckily, the whole park is empty, so no one can scold him when he throws his lollipop stick on the ground and pulls out his mobile phone. As soon as he unlocks it, Rin sees that he has a Snapchat notification, a Snapchat from "Rei-chan( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)" (whose contact name Rin chose himself).

He opens it and finds a picture of a little printed out piece of paper. It appears to be stuck with blue tack onto the side a row of lockers. On the paper, there is a photograph of about six sharks swimming in a beautiful dark blue ocean, and on top of the image is a quote, typed on in black print. It reads "Have the guts to swim with the sharks. Don’t let them prevent you from enjoying the ocean."

Rei has also added his own caption. It says "Someone put this up in the locker room and it made me think of you."

Rin chuckles, slightly confused, and sends Rei a picture of himself with a deadpan face. He types out the caption "U saying I'm a shark or that I'm too afraid to swim with them?"

A few minutes later, Rei sends him a rather boring blurry picture of the floor and the caption "Your teeth, Rin-san." with no further explanation.

Snorting, Rin replies with a picture of himself rolling his eyes. He types "When will people get over my teeth? They're not that bad." as the caption.

Soon after, Rin receives another Snapchat from Rei. He opens it and finds a selfie this time. In it, Rei is smiling adorably. He's clearly at work, sitting at the reception desk of the sports centre, wearing his uniform and his little name badge. The caption reads "There's nothing wrong with them. I think they're cute." and Rin finds his cheeks flushing against his will. Rei does this to him. Rin is normally very good at accepting compliments, he always has been. He can take all kinds of praise from his friends and bosses and colleagues without stuttering, but even the slightest compliment from Rei makes him turn red like a teenage boy talking to a pretty girl for the first time.

Getting himself together, he replies with a picture of himself jokingly resting his cheek in his palm and looking into the distance. He writes the caption "Oh, Rei-chan. I bet you say that to all the girls."

Rei doesn't reply or open Rin's snap, so Rin assumes the man has gone back to work.

After this, Rin has no one to talk to, so he opens a new Snapchat from "Haru ಠ_ಠ," (once again a contact name chosen by Rin) and finds a picture taken in the mirror of Haruka wearing a cute jumper and his nicest pair of black skinny jeans. The caption reads "Nagisa Skyped me and helped me pick this outfit for when I get coffee with Makoto. You approve?"

Rin smiles, rolling his eyes. Seriously, Haruka should know that Rin thinks he looks good all the time, no matter what he wears. He ends up replying with a simple "Duh. You're hot." along with a picture of him wearing a matching facial expression.

Knowing he won't receive a reply because Haruka is shitty at Snapchatting and texting and doing anything involving talking to people, Rin puts his phone back into his pocket and closes his eyes, starting to gently push himself back and forth on the swing. It feels so weird being this far away from Haru and Rei in Iwatobi, and certainly Nagisa, who's all the way in America. He feels... Lonely, almost.

Shaking his head to discard all of these thoughts, Rin stands up, collects his things, and begins to make his way back home. He tells himself that he's fine.

**

"Okay, you should totally wear the grey jumper. No, the knitted one. The big one, the one with sleeves that hang over your hands. Yes, that one, you look fucking adorable in it. Okay, yes, wear it with the black skinny jeans we bought in Tokyo last summer. Also, you need to wear the buckle up boots. No, wait, the black Vans. Fuck, wait, no, actually the boots. Definitely the boots. They're fucking badass. Yes. YES. You look fucking good, Haru-chan, honestly, your butt is so cute. I want to eat it. Fuck me."

Buckling up the last buckle on his second and final boot, Haruka stands and shuffles over to the mirror to look at himself. He has to admit, he does look pretty good, dressed in darkness, his knitted grey jumper hanging just low enough on his shoulders for his sharp collar bones to show, and his jeans fitting just tight enough for his ass to appear perfectly curved in places that it most definitely is not when he isn't wearing them. He looks hot, definitely not as hot as Makoto, but hot enough.

Smoothing down his clothes, Haruka turns and smiles thankfully at his cell phone. The device is currently leaning up against the wall on his bookshelf, Nagisa's face showing on the screen, blurred by the crappy quality of his webcam on the Skype call. "Thanks for helping me pick out an outfit." Haruka says, grabbing his phone from the shelf and taking a seat at his desk, keeping the screen held up so he can carry on talking to Nagisa.

"No problem. I'd help you get ready for a date any day. You see, because I didn't pursue a career in fashion, my talents need to be put to use elsewhere - they simply cannot go to waste." Nagisa tells him grandly.

Haruka snorts, deciding not to comment on most of what his friend had said, instead just muttering, "It totally isn't a date."

"Fuck off, it's totally a date." Nagisa argues with a frown. "Rin-chan told me so."

"And since when was Rin more trustworthy than I am?"

Nagisa raises his eyebrows and purses his lips. "Since just now, when you lied to me about this not being a date."

"I'm not lying, I swear, it's not a date. I wish it was, but it isn't. We're just getting coffee as friends. As bros."

Nagisa snorts.

"I'm telling the truth, don't believe anything Rin says, he's a filthy liar!"

"Whatever you say, Haru-chan."

"I-" Haruka makes a noise of discomfort, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He opts for changing the subject rather than trying to carry on the argument. "So how's America treating you?" He asks, exhausted.

Chuckling at the desperately obvious topic change, the blond man humours him. "It's treating me well. The food is so good, you have no idea how much weight I have gained in the last six months. It's honestly a miracle that I haven't kicked the bucket yet." He moans and Haruka watches him lean back in his chair, patting his stomach. "Fuck. You haven't eaten a real burger until you've eaten an American burger. They're so good. So greasy. So perfect."

Haruka hums, nodding seriously as if he understands. Honestly, he's never eaten an American burger, but he went to Australia with Rin and he ate a burger there. They're both English speaking countries, so that must mean their burgers are similar, right? "I agree." Haruka tells Nagisa, even though his opinion is completely invalid. "And school? How are you finding marine biology?"

"It's pretty good, you know. I'm doing well, making friends. My English is a lot better, I mean, it's still fairly crappy, but I'm getting better at it every day."

Smiling, Haruka says "I'm glad to hear that you're doing well." and wishes, not for the first time, that he'd had the courage to go out and explore the world like his friend had.

Maybe seeing the regret in Haruka's eyes, Nagisa clears his throat and waves his hands at him through the camera. "Now, stop bothering me with questions and go and get ready for your date! You need to be ready, I've heard your man is a total stud muffin."

A wild flush spreads on Haruka's cheeks. "It's not a-"

"Date? Yes, yes, keep telling yourself that." Nagisa shrugs. "Alright, I'm going now, these burgers aren't going to eat themselves, are they? Someone has got to eat them!" He jokes, though Haruka is sure he's being at least partly serious. "Bye, Haru-chan! Talk to you later!"

"Bye, Nagisa. See you soon." Haruka murmurs, but Nagisa has already hung up on him before he can finish talking.

Haruka sighs, content, and fiddles around on his phone for a bit, checking the time and googling the weather. He opens up Snapchat and sends a quick mirror selfie to Rin, showing him his outfit and asking for his approval. Then, he tries to be productive and loads up the text he'd received from Makoto the previous evening, a text that reads "I'll come and get you at 11am?" and then he glances at the time again, nervously. It's 10:30 already. Half an hour to get himself together and find Yuki so that she can meet Miki when Makoto arrives.

Haruka pockets his cell phone and heads downstairs, making his way into the kitchen. "Yuki!" He calls out, thinking that the cat will be inside somewhere, ready for him to put out her breakfast as he would normally do at this time. He waits expectantly for a fluffy white cat to appear suddenly from a cupboard or through the cat flap, but the animal is nowhere to be seen. Haruka frowns, hoping to God that she hasn't gotten herself lost again, not when Makoto is going to bring Miki here to see her. Praying that she's just hanging around outside, he opens the door to the back garden and yells "Yuki!" loud enough for the whole street to hear.

A few seconds pass in which nothing happens, and Haruka's heart drops. However, before he can call Rei in his panic and ask him to make some of the 'missing cat' posters he promised him the last time Yuki went missing, a ball of fuzzy white fur shoots down from the ancient cherry blossom tree in his garden, followed by a messy ball of black fur. Then the two fluffy creatures are running through Haruka's garden, heading towards him, meowing to each other at the top of their lungs.

Haruka blinks, confused. He doesn't have two cats, does he?

He stares in bewilderment as Yuki arrives with her companion, both of them taking a seat on the doorstep. Haruka gawks down at the filthy creature that his cat had arrived with, it's muddy hair sticking up at odd angles and it's eyes blinking up at him. The cat meows.

"Wait-" Haruka crouches and searches under its matted coat for a collar, eventually finding a green one with the name "Miki" engraved on the tag, along with Makoto's full name and address.

Haruka rolls his eyes, fondly. "Dammit, Miki, couldn't you wait another half an hour until your owner brought you here himself?" He asks the cat, sighing. "You would've had a much easier journey, and probably a less muddy one. I couldn't even recognise you under all of the dirt."

Miki continues to blink up at him in confusion. Haruka sighs. He opens the door and let's the two of them in, laying down two bowls of cat biscuits for them to eat so they can keep themselves occupied.

Haruka pulls his cell phone out again and calls Makoto's number.

The phone rings only twice before he picks up. "Oh! Haru-chan, hi, I'm so sorry! Everything is going wrong this morning, I can't find Miki anywhere! Plus, my other cats are all apparently trying to make my life harder by tripping me up and eating my cereal! So basically I think I'm going to be late, probably by about half an hour, and I'm so sorry-" Makoto chokes out in a hurry when he answers the phone, sounding out of breath.

"Ah- you don't have to worry about Miki." Haruka assures him. "Yuki brought him to my house for some reason. He, uh, showed up in my garden about five minutes ago in one of my trees."

Makoto makes a noise which sounds like both a groan and a sigh of relief. "Seriously? Thank god!" He exclaims, sounding exhausted. "I was so worried! The cats get restless when he disappears, especially his sister, Natsu, she's very protective of him." Makoto says, and Haruka's heart melts. He can hear the relief in the man's gentle voice.

"He's fine, don't worry. I even gave him and Yuki some cat biscuits to keep him occupied until you get here."

"Phew, I'm glad to hear that." Makoto puffs out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much Haru-chan. I'll be at yours in about half an hour. After I scold Miki for running away, I will take you out for coffee, as promised." He says, his voice lighter.

Haruka can't help but smile. "I'm looking forward to it."

From here they proceed to say their goodbyes and Haruka hangs up with the feeling of excitement for the day to come settling in his stomach.

The fifteen minutes pass quickly and Haruka fills this time by busying himself with washing dishes and tidying his house. The cats finish their biscuits and watch him work, wondering why the man is swinging clothes around and throwing cutlery into drawers without stopping to think what the drawer is supposed to contain. They observe from a safe distance, perched on top of the microwave so that they are not hit by the flying items.

By the time he has finished, Makoto is knocking on his door, and Haruka is stumbling through the hallway to answer it, two anxious cats following behind him like two little shadows. The animals go to sit together, side by side, at the bottom of the stairs, watching him open the door with curious eyes. They probably don't know who has arrived, Haruka thinks that they're just being nosey, waiting to catch sight of whoever is knocking to satisfy their curiosity.

Haruka takes a deep breath.

"H- Hi-" He stutters immediately upon answering the door, effectively making in idiot out of himself within two seconds of being in Makoto's presence. However, he cannot be blamed, for he has caught sight of Makoto Tachibana wearing a light green shirt and pair of dark grey skinny jeans with rips in the knees. Haruka must have died and gone to heaven. There is no way that thighs like those can possibly exist on earth. A few seconds pass in which he is unable to speak because of the fact that the man in front of him is completely breathtaking and he has to force the lump in his throat to subside before he can greet his guest properly. "Hi, Makoto." He forces himself to say.

Makoto's smile is small and modest when he says "Good morning." and Haruka's heart flips in a way that cannot be healthy for someone as young as he is. Haruka steps aside to let Makoto come through the door, and the tall man shuffles inside, taking off his shoes politely and saying "Sorry for intruding."

Behind them, Miki perks up with a soft meow at the sight of his owner, his little furry ears twitching. Then, he seems to realise that he'd essentially ran away from home to be with his girlfriend, so his owner is bound to be mad at him. He shrinks backwards slightly, aware of what he had done.

"Miki." Makoto's voice is calm but firm. It's rather alarming to hear, considering how warm his voice normally sounds when he speaks. Miki, sensing a looming lecture, immediately moves to scuttle up the stairs to escape it, but Makoto lurches forward to pick the animal up gently before he can run away. He lifts him up and holds him in front of his face.

"Miki," Makoto says, again, this time sounding rather upset. "Why would you run away like that? I was so worried about you, we all were. You know how Natsu gets when you don't come home for dinner, she was beside herself with worry."

Miki lets out a quiet meow, and if Haruka had ever known a cat to appear guilty, he would say that's how Miki looks right now, his ears drooping shamefully. The animal lifts a paw and places it delicately upon his owners cheek, eyes seeming to seek forgiveness.

All is quiet for a second, before Makoto laughs under his breath. "Don't do it again, you silly cat." He brings Miki towards his face so he can nuzzle his furry neck. "Look at you, you're filthy! You must have taken the weirdest route here." He laughs fondly.

Trying stop himself from smiling giddily at the cuteness, Haruka watches as Miki meows in response and his owner places a final kiss on his head. Makoto turns to Haruka with the animal still in his arms.

"I think we'd better take Miki back to my place so he can see his sister. If you'd like, you can come along and then we can go for coffee afterwards?" Makoto suggests, scratching the back of his head with a short, quiet huff of laughter. "Seems a little backwards, I know."

Haruka's mouth lifts into a little smile and he finds himself saying "That sounds good." because he has no idea what else to say.

They let Miki and Yuki say their goodbyes, watching as the animals lick each other's faces gently before they part. Yuki heads back into the kitchen and Miki follows Haruka and Makoto outside.

"I live about twenty five minutes away from here by foot, do you mind walking?"

For a moment, Haruka thinks about offering to drive them in his car, but the sound of a long walk with Makoto is more appealing than a short drive. "Oh, that's fine. I quite enjoy walking."

Makoto's smile is brighter and more beautiful than anything Haruka has ever laid eyes on in his lifetime. "Alright then. Shall we?" He asks, voice almost joking. For a moment, he hesitates, before he shyly offers his arm to Haruka, seeming rather unsure of himself.

Blinking in surprise and wondering where on earth the offer had come from, Haruka pauses. "Sure." He eventually replies, tucking his hand in the crook of Makoto's elbow. Then they walk down the road together, side by side, with matching blushes on both their faces, a black cat running along in front of them.

Nagisa and Rin had been right, Haruka thinks. This is totally a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please point out any grammar/spelling errors you spotted! You probably already know this, but I can't write for shit!
> 
> direct all complaints to @oikawizard on twitter and slaymemakoto on tumblr


	7. Oh Shit, It's A Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO, yes, it is I, returning to you with a new chapter less than a month after I posted the last one. This is seriously an achievement for me, I thought it was going to take longer than it did. Literally yesterday I was panicking because I couldn't write anything, but look at where I am now, with a complete chapter ready to post. I'm so fucking happy.
> 
> Anyway, I should probably say that this whole chapter is an emotional rollercoaster, I tried to keep the atmosphere consistent but in the end it kept changing repeatedly without my consent and I couldn't get it to stop. I'm sorry. Also, I completely made up a lot of shit for it, but it's an AU so who cares.
> 
> And yeah, I hope you enjoy it!

Makoto's house is a mess.

When they arrive, Haruka isn't sure what he's expecting, really. He'd imagined that Makoto's house would be rather unique, he'd thought there might be lots of cat toys lying around and all of the furniture might be covered in fur, but he hadn't really thought much beyond that. He'd never thought he'd need to think about it, and it doesn't even occur to him that _oh my god I don't even know what Makoto's house looks like and I'm fucking going there with him right now, this is fucking big_ until they've walked all the way there, climbed a small set of stone stairs then made their way to the front door. The two of them have stopped there, Makoto hesitating before he unlocks it. He looks at Haruka nervously. "Um. I don't remember what it was like when I left, but I'll apologise in advance. The cats are probably anxious and it might be a bit chaotic when we go in."

Haruka shrugs, mumbling "I don't mind." because he doesn't, really.

And somehow, it still takes him by surprise when they open the door and step inside, Miki at their heals, and instantly hear a series of frantic meows as three cats of various sizes come scurrying through the hallway, searching for their missing friend.

The first to appear is a huge puffy cat with bright ginger fur, followed by a tiny cat with short brown fur and a little strip of blond on its forehead. The pair run up to Miki as soon as they catch sight of him, their tails twitching from left to right with excitement. They crowd around him, making a fuss over him like two over-affectionate grandmothers.

Makoto puts a hand on Haruka's shoulder, telling him that "The orange one is Tsuyoshi and the brown one is Yuu."

As the two cats continue to greet their friend, another appears, a medium-sized fluffy black cat with a white tail. It comes charging down the corridor, shoving the other two cats out of the way and licking Miki's face rather forcefully. Miki mewls in what seems like apology, but the cat ignores him, continuing to lick his face.

"And that's Natsu." Makoto says. "Miki's sister."

The two of them watch as the cats interact with each other, all of them seeming very happy to see that their little black furred friend is safe.  
It's a rather heart warming scene to witness, the three of them reunited after Miki's disappearance, and only a monster would think otherwise. However, Haruka soon finds his eyes straying from it and moving to take in what the rest of the place looks like. He notices that they're currently standing by the entrance in a long hallway which runs from the front of the house to the very back, where there is a set of glass doors leading out to a small garden, or what Haruka can see of it. The walls are painted a soft beige, a few framed paintings hung upon them for decoration. Haruka can see a few tall wooden doors on both the left and right hand side of the hallway, though he obviously can't tell what is behind any of them yet. It looks like a decent sized place, considering the fact that Makoto lives by himself, and it has a stylish but convenient layout.

However, the most notable feature of the hallway is the complete and utter chaos-like mess that covers the floor.

The four bowls of cat food by the front door are surrounded by stray chunks of meat and dried biscuits that the cats have dropped, and there is a layer of fur covering every inch of the carpet that Haruka can see. Random parts of Makoto's firefighter uniform are spread out over the entirety of the hallway, a few pairs of trousers, a helmet, a jacket (Haruka distantly thinks that he'd like to see Makoto wearing it at some point) and several pairs of boots. There are also a few messy piles of books, comics and magazines stacked against the wall beside one of the doors, but Haruka doesn't know why they haven't been moved from the hallway into one of the other rooms.

"Ah. It's a mess in here." Makoto comments, as if he hadn't previously noticed. He moves away from Haruka, removing his hand from his shoulder, and starts picking up items of clothing, throwing them haphazardly into another room. Cheeks flushed with embarrassment, he says "I'm normally very tidy, I swear. I've ordered shelves for the books and everything, but they haven't arrived yet."

A little smile graces Haruka's face and he waves his hand slightly. "I don't mind. We all have messy weeks." He assures him.

The taller man let's out an awkward laugh. "I promise it'll be cleaner next time you come over."

Haruka's stomach churns nervously and his face heats up at the thought of a 'next time'.

Then, Makoto returns to Haruka, having chucked all stray items of clothing into a room that Haruka hasn't yet seen, and asks "Do you want to go and get coffee now? I think Miki and the cats are okay." He motions towards where the furry creatures are still greeting each other, though Miki's sister seems to be scolding him now that she knows he is safe, gently tapping him on the shoulder with the soft foot of her paw in disapproval.

Haruka looks up at Makoto and nods. "Sure."

And so the two of them head out, locking up behind them, before making their way into town. They end up walking hand in hand, though Haruka doesn't really know how that happened. He tries not feel unreasonably proud that people are seeing him with Makoto, then he feels quite ashamed of himself when he does. After all, they're not dating or anything, they haven't known each other for long enough, and Haruka doesn't want to make assumptions. I mean, knowing his luck, he'll soon find out that Makoto considers walking around town whilst holding hands with a friend a totally "bro" activity. All Haruka can do is hope that Makoto thinks of him as more than a "bro", otherwise he'll find himself with a very permanent spot in the friend zone rather soon. And Haruka doesn't want to be in the friend zone.

After a pleasant walk, the two of them eventually settle in a little shop nearby. It's a modest building with a wooden exterior, the brown paint which covers it now chipped and peeling away, and the sign that hangs precariously above the door reads "Nitorin's" in dark cursive letters.  
Haruka knows the shop, or at least he knows owner, Nitori Aiichirou, who roomed with Rin at Samezuka for some time while they were at high school. Haruka and Nitori had become acquaintances, mostly because of Haruka's tendency to loiter in Rin's dorm room on occasions for some reason or another. They spoke quite often, even if their conversations mostly consisted of small talk - polite questions (from Nitori) followed by one word answers (from Haruka). The dark-haired boy had come to know Nitori well enough that he remembered his name when they left school and went their separate ways.

After they did, Haruka had gotten himself a job at the sports centre. There, he heard his co-workers, some of which were ex Samezuka students, discussing the fact that Nitori's uncle had passed away, leaving a coffee shop in his wake. They'd said his family were prepared to close it down and give the building to the council, but Nitori had stepped in, at the tender age of eighteen, and offered to take over.  
Since then, not much has been done to improve the outward appearance of the store, that much you can tell from the crappy paintwork on the exterior. However, Nitori has at least tried to modernise the name (though Haruka suspects that the name "Nitorin's" must have been created when Nitori's crush on Rin was at an outstanding peak. I mean, honestly, why else would he add an unnecessary "n" onto his surname?) and also improve the decoration of the inside so that it looks less like a poorly lit garden shed and more like a legitimate coffee shop. I mean, it even has actual plastered walls now, and a warm, homely atmosphere created by a pleasant colour scheme which resembles that of a sunset.

And Haruka admires it, in all of its glory, as he clutches Makoto's hand. The taller man leads him into the shop and guides him towards a table, tugging him forwards gently until he takes a seat. Then, he releases him, presumably so he can go and get them some drinks. "What would you like?"

"Just a cappuccino is fine."

Makoto nods, then disappears in the direction of the counter.

With his companion gone, Haruka takes the opportunity to continue looking around the room. The place isn't very large, Haruka notes, it appears to be just big enough for all the customers to fit inside comfortably and just small enough to remind people that it's a modest business, not anything fancy. This only adds to the friendly vibe which fills the room, and Haruka can imagine that a lot of people who visit regularly must feel a personal attachment to the shop, because of how unique and welcoming it feels. Haruka wonders hopelessly how Nitori has managed to make this place so individual, so memorable. Haruka doubts he could ever achieve something so significant.

Shaking his head abruptly, attempting to rid himself of the self-deprecating thoughts, Haruka's eyes begin to dart around again, looking for a distraction.

The shop is busy today, he notices, almost overwhelmingly so. He realises quite suddenly that everywhere he looks there are parents ushering children into seats, elderly people talking animatedly amongst themselves, students finishing schoolwork on laptops, and couples leaning over the table to talk to one another, faces just inches apart, eyes filled with fondness, contentedness, happiness. Haruka doesn't normally like crowded places, they make him nervous more often than they don't, but there's something about the atmosphere in Nitorin's that calms his nerves and tells him that there's nothing to worry about, that he is safe. The prospect is as unnerving as it is comforting, but Haruka let's himself be comforted, just this once.

A hand on his shoulder brings him back to reality, and before he knows it, Makoto is sitting in the seat opposite his, a smile on his face. He sets Haruka's drink down in front of him and places his own in front of himself, taking a sip. "The queue wasn't too long, I think they have a lot of staff here on days like these." He motions to the crowds of people in the room.

Haruka nods. "Thanks for the drink, do you want me to pay you back?"

Frowning, Makoto shakes his head. "No, no, I've got it. It's no problem."

"Oh. Okay, if you're sure. Thank you." Haruka says, glancing away and sipping his drink, a light blush rising to his cheeks without his permission.

A moment passes in which neither of them talk, they just drink their drinks and listen as people move around them, chatting and laughing with one another.

Makoto is the first to break the silence between them. "Have you been here before?" He asks curiously.

Haruka shakes his head, eyes returning from where they'd been glancing around the room to settle on Makoto's face again. "Nope. Have you?"

"Ah, I know the owner, so I come here quite a lot." Makoto admits, smiling bashfully.

Blinking in surprise, Haruka asks "Wait, you know Nitori?"

"Oh! Yes, uh, it's a strange story..." Makoto admits, smiling.

Haruka looks at him curiously, encouraging him to continue.

"Basically, I moved here from Kyoto a while ago and before I moved, my younger siblings wanted to visit the town so they knew where I'd be living. Nitori ran past us while we were walking to the park and accidentally knocked Ren over. Ran shouted at him a little, I think she was annoyed that he made her brother scrape his knee. In the end, he took us to his shop and gave us free drinks to apologise. We've been friends ever since." Makoto laughs fondly at the memory. Haruka snorts, smiling. "You know him too?"

"Yeah, he went to the same school as Rin. They were roommates, so we were bound to meet each other at some point. We spoke sometimes. He's nice."

The taller boy nods and hums in understanding. "It's weird that we both know him, isn't it? I guess this town isn't very big, there's not many people to know."

Haruka feels himself nodding, though he's suddenly distracted by what Makoto had said earlier about where he used to live. Feeling like he should be the one to start a conversation this time, Haruka asks "So you lived in Kyoto?"

Makoto nods. "Yeah, until a few years ago."

"Why did you move?" Haruka asks, curiosity getting the better of him, before he flushes and glances away, realising that his question might have sounded abrupt or rude.

He considers apologising, but Makoto answers before he can do so, not seeming bothered. "My parents were worried that I lacked ambition, I was content with staying in Kyoto, getting myself a part-time job and looking after my younger siblings the rest of the time. It wasn't a problem, I loved watching the twins, but my parents didn't want me to limit myself. My mum told me I was making myself a dad before I actually was one, and that I should go out and explore while I was still young." Makoto laughs quietly, looking down at his hands. "I knew she was right. They tried to send me to Tokyo, but I wasn't sure I'd like it there. In the end, my dad suggested I come here, since it isn't in a big city, but rather by the seaside. We looked into it, and I decided I wanted to come here to train to be a firefighter. So that's what I did, and I don't regret it." Makoto sighs a little, smiling. "I miss them sometimes, though, my parents and my siblings, but I suppose everyone misses their family."

Haruka nods, though he doesn't talk to his parents enough to miss them. Still, he can understand what Makoto means, he misses Rin and Nagisa a lot when he thinks about how far away they are.

Finished with his story, Makoto grins. "Wow, that was a long one. Sorry."

Haruka smiles, shaking his head. "That's okay, I like hearing stories."

"I've been talking about myself an awful lot, though." Makoto says, appearing shy suddenly. He fiddles with the straw in his drink. "So what about you? Did you grow up here?"

"Yeah." Haruka says.

Makoto hums. "How did you and Rin meet?"

Rin. For a moment, Haruka stays silent, remembering what it used to be like. He remembers their natural rivalry, remembers their arguments, remembers when Rin would make fun of Haruka for having no friends his age, telling him he would only ever have Nagisa to talk to. He remembers the old Rin, the bitter Rin, the Rin he hates to remember. "It's a very long story..." Haruka says, unsure if Makoto would want to listen to it.

"I like long stories." Makoto assures him.

He takes a deep breath, not sure if he can explain it all. "You'll have to bear with me. I'm not great at talking." Makoto's reassuring smile helps him relax. "Rin and I were rivals for some time. I can't remember exactly how we met, but we went to the same swimming club." He begins. "I remember he wanted me to race a relay with him and my friend Nagisa, but I refused, telling him that I only swam freestyle. I mean, we didn't have anyone to swim backstroke, anyway, so there was no point. I said no every time he asked, and Nagisa, stuck in the middle, didn't want to take sides. It wounded Rin's pride, I think, that neither of us would swim with him, and from then onwards he decided he'd work hard to get better than me. I didn't mind the rivalry, but I hated that he constantly made fun of me all the way through elementary school. Back then, we were more like enemies than we were friendly rivals. It's weird to think that he's my best friend now."

Makoto frowns and leans forwards, resting his chin on his hand. "I can't believe it. You're so close, I thought you must have been friends since the start. How did you work it all out?"

Haruka smiles a slightly sad smile. "We left elementary school, I went to the local middle school and Rin went to Australia to train. He worked hard, hit a wall, and returned in our second year of high school." Haruka explains. "Nagisa had just started his first year, and he convinced me to go with him to break into our old swimming club. I agreed, only because I'd heard it was closed down and was going to be demolished, so I wanted to see it one last time before it was gone. There, we bumped into Rin, who had apparently come back from Australia without telling anyone. He told me he was determined to finally beat me, but by then I'd stopped swimming and Nagisa had done so too. I told him I wouldn't fight him, I told him I wanted him to move on from the rivalry and train for himself."

Haruka pauses. Mostly to split the big ass paragraph into two.

"He broke down, me and Nagisa stood there awkwardly while it happened, and he told us about the wall he'd hit training in Australia. He ranted a little, then got embarrassed and left. A few days later, he called me and told me he'd gotten his little sister to ask Nagisa for my number. He apologised for the night at the swim club, apologised for the things he'd said in elementary school, and apologised for being so bitter. He said he'd been jealous that I had natural talent, whilst he had to work hard to get better, and even then he couldn't beat me. He asked me if I wanted to train with him on weekends, even if I wasn't swimming competitively, and I said that I would, as long as Nagisa could join us, which Rin quickly agreed to. Nagisa even tried to convince me to start a swim club at Iwatobi high so we could race Rin competitively again, but we didn't have enough members, and I didn't want to ruin the friendship Rin and I had formed again. After that, we swam together on weekends, then eventually the three of us became close, close enough to stay in contact after we left high school. That was it, really."  
A moment of silence passes in which Haruka tries to catch his breath after all the talking he'd been doing, before Makoto huffs in mock exhaustion, blinking. "That story was stressful! You guys had more friendship drama in your years at elementary school than I've had in my life!"

Haruka laughs quietly. He takes a large sip of his drink, which must have gone cold during his story. "I'm glad it's over now, though."

Smiling, Makoto says "I don't blame you." He leans backwards in his seat, his face gentle. "So where's Nagisa now?"

"In America. He's studying marine biology."

Makoto's eyes light up. "That's so cool!"

"I know. He's really enjoying it." Haruka says, nodding. He looks away. "Kind of makes me wish I'd gone with him."

A beat of silence passes between them. "Do you regret it? The fact that you stayed here while Rin went to Tokyo and Nagisa went to America?"

More silence. A wave of panic rushes through him. His throat feels like it's closed up, like he couldn't reply even if he tried. The truth is, sometimes he does. But, the thing is, he knows he fits in here, in Iwatobi, in his house, with his cat, with his shitty job at the sports centre. He wouldn't fit in out there, in America where they speak English and he can't, or in Tokyo where there are crowds that he can't deal with, where nothing reminds him of home. He regrets that he couldn't have gone with either of them, he regrets that he wouldn't have been able to handle it.

His silence must concern Makoto, because he jumps to apologise for asking about it. "Oh, Haru-chan! I'm so sorry I asked such an insensitive question!" He says, loudly, eyes filled with worry.

"No-" Haruka chokes out, forcing the words past his lips. "It's okay, I can answer your question, I can." He tries to convince himself that what he's saying is true. "I don't regret it. There's nothing for me out there, in America or in Tokyo. I'm better off staying here. If I hadn't stayed here, I wouldn't have found Yuki, and I wouldn't have met you. I'm happy where I am."

Eyes wide, blinking owlishly, Makoto sits in a shocked silence. "Haru-chan. I'm happy I met you, too." He says, his voice shaking, and he reaches to grab Haruka's hand from where it had been resting on the table between them, tangling their fingers together. Haruka's stomach fills with a warm fluttery feeling, and, unsure of how to deal with it, he begins to blush furiously, staring at their joined hands. "Is this okay? Does it bother you?" Makoto asks, suddenly concerned.

Haruka shakes his head furiously. "It doesn't bother me. It's fine." _Please keep holding my hand, please don't let go._

And Makoto seems to understand, despite the fact that Haruka hadn't spoken the words out loud. They sit there, amongst the crowds of chattering people and overly romantic couples, simply holding hands and smiling. The two of them, in that moment, are happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know if you spot any mistakes. I don't have a beta and I am just one giant walking typo so yes, there may be quite a few.
> 
> Direct all complaints to slaymemakoto on tumblr and @oikawizard on twitter (my twitter is a shithole tho so be warned)


	8. Are We Even Dating?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone, it is me, trash, here with a new chapter, a day early. A DAY EARLY. EARLY. NOT LATE. What the fuck. I am honestly so proud of myself, idc if this chapter is a load of shit, which it probably is because I was an emotional wreck when I wrote most of it. But still, to celebrate my success, I have decided to make the 23rd day of each month the day that I will definitely upload a new chapter, no matter what. Hopefully. If I don't procrastinate. Uh, I'll try.
> 
> ANYWAY, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Nitroi Aiichiro because he is precious and he deserves hugs. 1 kudos = 1 hug for Nitori.
> 
> Hope you enjoy the chapter, friends!

Makoto's hand is warm in Haruka's as they exit Nitorin's, their fingers linked loosely and their palms pressed together, swinging gently back and forth between them as they walk.

Haruka has to say that their visit to Nitorin's was rather satisfying, he's glad to have seen the place after (over)hearing so much about it from his co-workers. Before they'd left, they'd made sure to say a brief hello to Nitori, who appeared behind the counter for his shift just as they were leaving. Haruka had made a point to compliment Nitori on the shop, saying that he loved the interior design, and the smaller boy had stuttered, then blushed a little and thanked him for his kindness. He and Makoto had kept it short, excusing themselves rather swiftly, and just as they were about to leave, Nitori had told Haruka to say hello to "Rin-senpai" for him. Haruka thought this was rather adorable, and he's sure Rin will think so, too, when he tells him about it later.

Now, as they walk on the pavement side by side, heading back in the general direction of their houses, Makoto's presence beside him is so comforting that Haruka almost forgets to breathe. 

Shyly, Haruka sneaks a look at Makoto's face, finding him smiling idly to himself, his eyes bright as he watches the clouds move in the sky above them. Haruka finds himself suddenly unable to tear his eyes away from the taller man, and, reluctantly, he accepts his fate. He takes in all the details of Makoto's profile, taking notice of how his eyelashes cast dark shadows onto his cheeks, and how his lips are rosy pink, parted slightly. Distantly, Haruka thinks that he's never wanted to kiss anyone more than he wants to kiss Makoto. He wants to kiss those lips, he wants to see how they taste, how they feel against his own-

Enough, Haruka thinks to himself. No more thoughts about kissing.

But the thing is, Makoto is so fucking beautiful that it's impossible to _not_ think about kissing him. He's so beautiful that Haruka struggles to understand why he doesn't have a fan club. He actually feels like he needs to create one, for the sake of society. It's his duty. He needs to become the founder of the Tachibana Makoto fan club, he needs to make himself the president and have Rin as his vice-president. Together, they will introduce society to Makoto's outstanding beauty, and they will make the world a better place.

Shaking his head, Haruka realises with horror that he sounds like a teenage girl with a crush on a pop star. It's terrifying, and he tells himself to stop being so fucking creepy.

After he's finished with his internal monologue, he's been staring for so long that it isn't surprising when Makoto finally turns his head and catches him, their eyes meeting. He looks at him with concern, his smile dropping. "Haru-chan? Are you alright?"

"Ah- Yes." Haruka stutters, finally managing to blush. He looks away, quickly. "I was just thinking."

"Oh." Makoto hums in realisation, no longer appearing so worried. "What were you thinking about?"

"Uh- Not much, just about how nice the weather is." Haruka lies, blatantly. There's no way he's going to tell Makoto that he just considered founding a Tachibana Makoto fan club. He'd never live it down.

Makoto accepts this answer with another hum. A few steps later, he asks "Do you want to do to the park? We can sit on the swings and talk for a bit before we go home?"

Glad that he now has an excuse to extend their time together, Haruka nods eagerly. "Sure."

And that is how Haruka finds himself in the park sitting on a swing. Please note that it's a swing that isn't quite big enough for him, and Makoto, who is even taller, is sitting in the one next to him, struggling to fit himself onto the seat. It's endearing, watching him squirm as he realises his muscly shoulders don't quite fit between the chains, and his face flushing with embarrassment at the realisation.

"I think these swings are for children." Haruka comments, trying not to laugh at the sight.

"Yeah." Makoto says, sounding incredibly awkward. "Want to move to the bench?"

Haruka smiles and nods, helping Makoto down from the swing. They walk together towards a little white bench under a tall apple tree, and settle there next to each other. They sit side by side, hands not joined but resting close together, and Haruka looks upwards to watch a pair of birds make a nest in the tree above them, carrying little twigs and leaves in their beaks. Smiling absently, Haruka wonders what it'd be like to be a bird, to live in a nest without having to worry about whether you'll have enough money to pay the bills this month, or about whether you've made the right decision in staying where you are. He imagines that he'd like that life, he'd like to be that free. It's ironic, really. He's always made a point to only swim free, and he's never felt less so.

Blinking, he wonders if he even knows what it means to be free.

A hand on his arm brings him back to reality, and he turns around to find Makoto looking at him with a concerned frown. "Are you really alright, Haru-chan? You keep spacing out."

Trying and failing to appear emotionally stable, Haruka nods.

"Were you thinking again?" Makoto asks.

Haruka nods once more. "I was wondering what it'd be like to be a bird."

Looking upwards, Makoto's frown turns into a considering smile. "Not very easy, I'm sure. There would be a lot of harsh winters where food doesn't grow. And then in the summer, when it does grow, you'd have to fight other birds for it. Too tough for me." He admits, laughing. "And I can't imagine making a nest, I'd never have enough patience. Backwards and forwards with sticks, it'd be incredibly tedious."

Seeing his point, Haruka allows himself to laugh quietly, too. "I suppose you're right."

A beat of silence passes in which the two of them watch the birds above them as they fly off to find more materials for their nest. Breaking the silence, Makoto asks, "Would you like to be a bird?"

"Maybe. Birds have so few worries, and they don't have the capacity to regret things. I'd like to feel that weightlessness, that freedom."

"I guess so." Makoto says, seeming to consider it. Then, he looks at Haruka with a knowing smile. "But don't forget, birds can't swim!"

Haruka pauses. For a second, he is quiet. Then, he makes a "tch" noise with his mouth and says "Okay, maybe being a bird is overrated."

Snorting, Makoto begins to laugh heartily, and it's a beautiful sound, so joyous and carefree. Haruka wants to hear it again and again until he's memorised the sound of it, until he can't hear anything else. "Wow, so predictable, Haru-chan!" He laughs.

After a while, his laughter fades and leaves a faint smile on his face in it's wake. Then, more silence passes by, but there's nothing uncomfortable about it. In the past, Haruka would have thought that a lapse in conversation was the worst thing that could happen, but now, he doesn't feel panicked, he doesn't feel like he needs to ask a random question just to fill the gap. It's just a pleasant silence. That's all there is to it.

In fact, the silence continues until Makoto breaks it, again. He turns to Haruka suddenly, his eyes filled with determination. "I really like you." He blurts out. The second he says it, his face falls, his determined expression morphing into one of embarrassment, his pale cheeks flushing red and his eyes widening. Panicked, he starts to apologise. "Sorry, that was a weird thing to say-"

Before he can continue to feel awkward about the situation, Haruka interrupts him. "No, it's okay. I like you too." He says, trying to make it casual, trying to prevent Makoto from feeling any more uncomfortable.

Seeming pleased that he wasn't completely rejected, Makoto rubs the back of his neck and looks at Haruka with his big honest green eyes. "Ah- I'm sorry for being so abrupt. It's just that I do like you, Haru-chan. And I could tell you were feeling a little sad, you know, about birds and stuff. So I wanted to tell you how I felt, because I thought it might make you stop feeling sad."

Haruka wants to cry, he honestly does. No one has ever said they wanted to make him feel happy again, not even Rin, who just assumed he was just happy all the time anyway. Trust Makoto to be so aware of how Haruka is feeling, so observant and understanding about when he is needed and when he isn't. It makes Haruka want to hug him, to kiss him on the cheek for being such a good person. Then maybe kiss him on the mouth because he's hot. But that's irrelevant. "Thank you." He says instead, deciding to tell Makoto exactly what he thinks of him. "You're such a good person. I thank you for that."

"Oh- Oh, I'm not much, you're too kind." Makoto says, smiling bashfully.

A perfect example of a good person, he doesn't boast or accept compliments like he knows they're true. Haruka smiles, knowing not to push the matter any further, because Makoto will continue to be modest no matter what he says. "I'm glad I met you." He says instead. It's embarrassing, cheesy, even, but it's the truth, and Haruka wants Makoto to be happy, too. He deserves to be.

Makoto's face lights up, and he says "I'm glad I met you, too!" 

And it's such a beautiful sight that Haruka wants to see Makoto's face light up like that again, wants to see him beam with happiness and his eyes brighten with joy. It's selfish, really, that he wants to see that face smile for him, but he can't help it. He just wants to see Makoto smile.

**

Later, as the afternoon fades into the evening, the two of them walk home from the park hand in hand. It's pleasant, but it isn't anything special, there are no fireworks or big displays or even the two of them walking in the rain like he's seen in the cheesy American movies that Rin watches. It's simple, just the two of them wandering down the road in the evening sunlight, but, somehow, it feels significant to Haruka, like something is about to change. 

And then, as they turn onto Haruka's street, he feels it. 

After all of the time he's spent feeling like he doesn't fit in anywhere, like doesn't belong anywhere, Haruka feels like he's finally found where he belongs. He belongs here, at Makoto's side, his small hand engulfed by Makoto's larger one, and his heart finally feeling at ease.

It's such a relief, for his chest to feel so light. He sighs.

**

Makoto doesn't kiss him when they say good bye to each other outside Haruka's house. For this, Haruka is grateful, because he doesn't know if he can handle any more cute today. Instead, Makoto hugs him, just for a few seconds before he pulls away, but it's enough. Haruka smiles and tells him he'll talk to him tomorrow.

This seems to make Makoto remember something. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, turning it on and unlocking it. "Do you have Snapchat?" He asks.

Haruka has never blurted out his username faster.

Tucking his phone away after sending a friend request, Makoto says his last goodbye, before he turns around and heads down the street. Haruka watches him as he walks away until he can no longer see him. Then, he tells himself to stop being weird and makes himself go inside.

"I'm home." He announces as he steps through the front door into the empty house. No one answers. Haruka is alone again.

At least, he's alone until he heads into the living room, where he finds Yuki laying on the couch, her head resting upon her paws. She lifts her head as he walks in, her face tight, as if to say "Where have you been?" like an overprotective parent would say. Well, if the overprotective parent was a small cat holding a purple toy mouse in it's mouth.

Laughing quietly, Haruka pats her little white head and says "Sorry I'm late." 

She swishes her tail, her gaze darting away from him, before she finally looks him dead in the eye and spits her fluffy mouse toy at his feet. Oh, she's sulking. Haruka realises this soon enough.

So, to solve the problem, he walks past her, into the kitchen. "If you're so mad at me, I suppose you don't want dinner."

The cat stares at him, seemingly not affected by this threat. Haruka bets she's probably thinking that she can live without her tinned chicken cat food for one night, so it's not a problem.

"We're having mackerel." He mumbles, quietly, as if he's talking to himself.

And Yuki leaps down from the couch, trotting into the kitchen eagerly, all previous anger forgotten. Haruka guesses she's learnt what the word "mackerel" sounds like and what it means, sort of like how a dog responds to the word "walkies". It's cute, and Haruka feels oddly proud of her for it.

He fries the mackerel as he usually does, listening to the radio and reflecting on what had happened earlier today. Yuki is sitting by her bowl now, looking at him expectantly. Haruka laughs gently, and, not for the first time, he wonders how he'd ever lived his life before he met Yuki. He must have been incredibly lonely, all by himself, without his little companion keeping him company.

As he eats his fish once it's cooked, and Yuki eats hers next to him, he pulls his phone out and opens Snapchat. He smiles at the sight of Makoto's display name with the whale emoji next to it, but he scrolls past it to open up a chat with Rin, who's display name is "Rin-sama (⌐■_■)", though Rin was the one who wrote it into Haruka's phone, of course.

"Guess who I saw today." Haruka types to Rin in the chat he'd opened.

Seconds later, Rin opens his message. Haruka sighs, shaking his head, wondering why Rin spends so much time on his phone. Does he ever do anything else? Probably not. He replies after another few seconds. "Who??? Was it Rei-chan?? Did u see my husband 2day?!"

"Nope. Not Rei." Haruka writes, teasingly.

"Aw. Who then?"

"Nitori."

There's a little pause as Rin types out his message, then he answers in all caps. "AW, AI. MY PRECIOUS FLOWER."

"Yep, he said to say hello to "Rin-senpai" for him."

"That is too cute. Stop. My baby Ai still calls me senpai. I cannot deal. Where did u see him?"

"He has a coffee shop now. I went there with Makoto."

Immediately swerving onto the new topic without hesitation, Rin answers even quicker than before. "MAKOTO?"

Haruka's phone rings. Knowing exactly who it is, Haruka answers, but before he can say anything, even a quick hello, Rin interrupts loudly.

"How did it go? Did you kiss?" Rin's voice is frantic, as if the very thought that he doesn't yet know all the details is causing him physical pain.

"No." Haruka sighs. "We didn't kiss, but we held hands all day and he hugged me when he dropped me off at my house."

"Fucking marry him." Rin groans. There's shuffling on the other end of the phone line, then a sigh. "If you do not, I will."

"What about your "Rei-chan"?"

"Polyamory exists. I'll marry both." Rin insists.

"As wonderful as polyamory is, you can't marry more than one person at a time. It's illegal."

"Technicalities." The red-haired man dismisses. "I'll make it work. Anyway, you should be marrying him so I can't!"

"I've met him three times. He could be a murderer."

"You know as well as I do that he's as harmful as a butterfly."

"Still, he hasn't even said he likes me in that way, so how do I know that he doesn't just see me as a friend?"

"Haru-chan, I want you to answer this question honestly. Do friends hold hands?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Haruka lies.

Rin sighs. "Do I hold your hand when we go out for coffee?"

"Sometimes? I guess? Maybe?"

"Don't lie. I may be gay but I ain't gay for you, Haru-chan. You're hot, don't get me wrong, but I'm taken. By Rei-chan."

Haruka hums. He sees the opportunity to change the subject, and he jumps to take it. "You two official?"

"Nah, I'll ask him out when the time is right. We're just friends right now. We flirt." Rin says with a wistful sigh.

"Be careful, someone might snatch him up before you can."

Immediately, Rin growls "I'll behead anyone who tries." and Haruka wants to believe that he's joking but, honestly, who the fuck knows what Rin might do?

Instead of asking him if he actually plans to murder anyone, Haruka decides that he doesn't want to know, so he attempts to move the conversation onwards. "Are you still talking to him on Snapchat?"

"Yeah, he's so cute, he sends me these sexy fucking selfies sometimes and UGH they make me wanna whip my dick out-" Rin stops. "Fuck you, Haru-chan stop changing the subject."

Wisely, Haruka just mumbles unintelligibly and doesn't say anything.

"Haru. Haru-chan. Please tell Makoto how you feel."

"I just-" Haruka decides that if he's going to spill everything to anyone he may as well spill it all to Rin, who is in Tokyo and too far away to directly judge Haruka. "The thing is-" He stops again. "This might sound really stupid, okay? You're not allowed to make fun of me."  
Rin hums in agreement, encouraging him to continue. 

"The thing is that I'm pretty sure we're already dating? Like, when he asked me out for coffee, at first I thought it was going to be something casual, but then he held my hand and we discussed some things about life and it didn't really feel casual, you know? So, I know I shouldn't assume things, but I also don't want to tell him that I want to date him if he already asked me to date him when he took me out for coffee, you know?"

For a split second, Rin is silent. Then, he clears his throat and says "I know what you mean. This situation is incredibly awkward." He stops to think for a while before he continues. "But, I think you need to ask him what wants, because you don't want to find yourself in a situation where one of you thinks your relationship is casual while the other thinks it's serious, because in the end you'll both end up getting hurt and everything will suck."

"This isn't a soap opera-"

"It still happens, Haru-chan. You don't want it to happen."

More silence passes in which Haruka considers Rin's words. He supposes that he does need to ask Makoto about what they're doing, he can't imagine living within this weird grey area for any longer, and he sure as hell doesn't want to get hurt because of it. He hasn't got the time or emotional strength to recover from that.

"Just tell him you want to date him." Rin says. "And ask him if he wants to date you."

"Okay. I will." Haruka gives in. "Tomorrow, after work."

When Rin talks Haruka can hear the relieved smile in his voice. "Good to hear. I expect to receive a full verbal report of how it goes. Understood?"

"Of course. Understood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know if you spot any mistakes. I don't have a beta and I am just one giant walking typo so yes, there may be quite a few.
> 
> Direct all complaints to slaymemakoto on tumblr and @oikawizard on twitter (my twitter is a shithole tho so be warned)


	9. #confirmed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW, I broke my promise again! Who's surprised? Not me! Oh well, at least it's here, even if it's a few weeks late, and even if it's a bit rushed. Honestly, when are my chapters ever not rushed? Anyway, this is it, guys (if anyone's even still reading), this is the last full chapter of this fic I'll be writing. After this, we just have a mini epilogue to tie things up, including rinrei because I've kind of abandoned that ship a little by accident. I feel like I should definitely write an ending to their story, too, even if their story is a little hole-y.
> 
> If I'm completely honest with you, I lost motivation for this fic and most of my other multi-chaptered fics a while ago, so I'm kind of happy to be finishing this one. I'll probably stick to one shots and short fics from now on, I'm not very good at finishing things like this.
> 
> THAT is probably why I regret this chapter so much. It's so rushed and I cry at night because of how shit it is. But, whatever.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy.

Yuki's owner is in a strange mood today. She can tell, she has lived with him for long enough now to know. She has found that, over time, she has become used to his usual sleeping pattern and schedule, she now wakes up and takes naps at times that allow her to be awake and ready to cuddle when he is home and fast asleep when he is away. Because of this, she is bound to notice when something is wrong, so it's not surprising when she does.

This morning, Yuki notices that something isn't right immediately, just from the fact that her owner comes downstairs late, so he is unable to cook fish for breakfast, which hasn't happened yet in the time that Yuki has lived with him. He comes flying down the stairs, leaving a trail of mess behind him, and barely has time to scrape some tinned cat food into a bowl for Yuki and pat her head, grabbing a slice of bread for his own breakfast before he launches himself out of the door, on his way to work.

And this is when Yuki begins to worry about him.

However, there is nothing she can do. She's a cat, she'll just have to wait until he is home so she can comfort him, and maybe he'll tell her what's wrong.

**

Haruka makes it to work just on time, fortunately. Rei shoots him a concerned glance as he tumbles through the door and plops himself behind the desk at exactly 7:59am, getting himself well and truly comfortable and attempting to emotionally prepare himself for his hour long shift on reception. The bright side is that, after Rei takes over, he can escape to the indoor tennis courts and mop the floors there for a while. Honestly, he'd rather just mop the tennis courts all day every day than do even an hour on the front desk. Mopping is boring, but it requires no social interaction, unlike working on reception does. The one thing he hates most in the world is customers, because they are almost never right, but they are also paying, and it's impossible to deal with then when you aren't feeling incredibly calm. Mopping the tennis courts doesn't involve having to deal with that shit, at least.

His hour long shift seems to be the longest hour of his life; he spends the whole time thinking about Makoto with water dripping down his chest, trickling down his firm abs, and his swimming legging things falling low on his hips. It hurts his soul to think about it, it really does. 

It feels like he's been at work for days on end by the time Rei comes through the back door and taps his shoulder, saying "Nanase-senpai, I'll be taking the desk now." and Haruka is so relieved to be able to stand up and step away from the desk that he almost kisses Rei in his happiness, but stops himself when he considers the fact that Rin would probably murder him brutally for even thinking about kissing Rei.

Free of reception duty, Haruka drags himself off to grab a mop so he can clean the tennis courts until his lunch break. When he's finally standing in the empty room with his mop and a bucket, he breathes a sigh if relief. Brilliant, no more customers. Peace at last. He puts in his earphones and gets to work.

Well, Haruka realises a minute later, the problem with having no customers to deal with is that your thoughts go from daydreaming about a boy's abs to genuinely worrying about the future of your relationship with that boy.

What will he do if he calls Makoto tonight and he tells Haruka that he's only looking for something casual? Haruka can't do casual, he has too many feelings to do casual. He has no idea how he'll handle that situation if it comes to it; he doesn't even want to imagine how he'd cope, especially after spending a lifetime alone with only Yuki to keep him company. Having to say goodbye to the best human relationship he's ever had with anyone other than Rin will be hard. It's likely that it'll take him some time to get over it, but he can probably manage it. Probably.

However, another possibility is that Makoto might be fine with a committed relationship, but he might not feel comfortable with telling people about it. He might flat out refuse to come out to the public. What would Haruka do then? Could he handle a secret relationship? Probably not, it'd feel too much like they're sneaking around, cheating on spouses that neither of them have. That can't be a nice way to live your life, always looking behind your back in case you're being followed, kissing only behind closed doors. Would Makoto make him promise not to tell Rin? That's not something Haruka can handle, he tells Rin everything, they're like a pair of little girls that are best friends forever also known as BFFLs and they never EVER keep secrets from each other. Besides, Rin already knows everything about how he feels about Makoto, so what's the point in keeping it a secret? Would he be able to tell Rin about their relationship without having Makoto's permission?

Haruka begins to feel so irrationally angry towards this hypothetical jackass version of Makoto that he immediately forces himself to come back to reality. _This is just a possibility, dude, chill the heck out_ , he tells himself.

Okay, so, maybe he's making a big deal out of nothing, maybe it'd be easier if he just rang Makoto straight after work and asked the damn question sooner rather than later, so he doesn't have to spend a long period of time stressing out about this shit.

The mop slides back and forth against the floorboards, taunting him with it's pointless sloshing, and the noise of it pisses Haruka off to the point where he turns up the volume on his phone and mops harder in an attempt to distract himself from his own thoughts. He will deal with his boy issues later, his priority at the moment should be mopping.

 _Mop is life_ , he tells himself.

**

Once the tennis courts have been mopped, Haruka ends up volunteering himself to mop the floors in the aerobics hall after his lunch break, which tends to be the worst job. Why is it the worst job, you ask? It is the worst simply because of the big squishy fitness balls that you have to kick out of the way to actually reach the floor that needs mopping. Also, the room smells like middle aged women (see also: sweat and sadness), which isn't the nicest of smells, to be honest.

By the time he has successfully mopped the aerobics hall, cleaned the mirrors and wiped down the sweat-covered fitness balls, it's almost half past five, meaning his shift is almost over. Part of him is excited to be going home because he knows he can take a nap as soon as he gets back, but he's also indirectly terrified, because he swore to himself that he'd call Makoto in the evening and, contrary to popular belief, he's actually very honest to himself. He will call Makoto, even if it's just out of loyalty to his own promises.

The storage cupboard is cold and empty when Haruka goes to return the mop to where it belongs, and Rei is just as cheerful and kind-hearted as ever when Haruka speed-walks through the reception area in his rush to exit. The younger man, still somehow sat at the front desk, smiles and calls "Bye, Nanase-senpai!", to which Haruka mumbles a moderately loud "Bye." in return.

The journey home is, well, as it usually is. It's quiet, maybe even more quiet than normal, or perhaps that's just Haruka's heightened sense of paranoia acting up again. Still, the unnerving feeling makes the journey quicker because he ends up almost running home in his terror. He's never been happier to barge through the front door of his own house and lock it behind him.

Luckily, he is immediately greeted by Yuki, who trots up to him with a happy, almost relieved meow, and rubs herself against his legs, inadvertently spreading her white fur all over his black jeans. Haruka gratefully leans down to pet her, pleased with the attention.

"Thank you for making me feel less lonely." Haruka tells Yuki, probably too honestly, running his fingertips over her little ears, before reaching under to pick her up. Yuki gives him a pitiful look, but nonetheless allows him to bring her over with him to the couch. There, he texts Rin a quick update about how lonely he is feeling today, before he throws his phone to the carpet and lays down for a nap, Yuki instinctively curling up beside him for a nap of her own. Haruka falls asleep wondering what Makoto is doing, wondering if he's feeling as unsure as Haruka is, or if he's just living his day-to-day life without sparing him a second thought.

**

"I'm gonna do it. Give me a pep talk." Haruka texts Rin, sitting at his kitchen table, knee bouncing nervously and his fingers beginning to shake as he debates whether he should call Makoto or leave things as they are. He seeks support from his friend in moments like these, moments when the uneasiness inside him won't settle and he can feel himself sinking. In a crowded place, Haruka reaches for Rin first, trusting him to keep him safe. His best friend is always there for him. He will listen to Haruka's worries even when they're insignificant and the issue is a boy.

"Go Haaarruuuuu. Get lucky, you stud. Open your whore mouth and tell him how you feel." Rin answers.

"Are you drunk?" Haruka types, frowning.

"Nah, but I am drunk in LOVE with REI." Rin replies. Haruka laughs a little, amused. His shaking eases off as he allows himself to calm down. Then, another text. "CALL MAKOTO, MY CHILD."

And so Haruka does, feeling energised. He clicks Makoto's name in his contact list.

The phone rings once, twice, three times-

"Hello?" Makoto's grainy voice comes through the receiver, making Haruka's frail heart jump out of his chest with fright, all previous relaxation gone, his blood running ice cold and his breath catching in his throat. It's like he's seen a ghost, which makes the whole thing kind of ridiculous, considering the fact that he's the one who called Makoto in the first place. For some reason, he wasn't expecting an answer straight away, so the sound of Makoto's voice had freaked him out completely. A moment passes in which Haruka does nothing but attempt to calm the beating of his heart, before Makoto asks, confused by the silence, "Hello? Is this Haru-chan?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. It's Haru." Haruka says, awkwardly, swallowing his nerves. "Do you have time to talk right now?"

"Well, yes, I finished dinner a while ago and I was just going to watch some TV or something, anyway. I have nothing else to do." Makoto assures him, quietly. "I mean, I'm pleased that you called me and all, but can I ask why you're calling? You don't normally talk to me over the phone unless I call you first." Haruka takes a shaky breath, trying to chill himself out. Probably hearing this nervous noise of distress, Makoto's voice suddenly takes on a serious tone, his words filled with worry for his- friend? Boyfriend? That's what Haruka was calling to find out, wasn't it? "What is it, Haru-chan? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry. I just wanted to- uh- tell you that I had a really good time yesterday." Haruka assures him, trying to sound confident and, well, failing miserably. He fleetingly wonders why he can't just be a normal person for once in his life, and answers his own internal question by thinking about the fact that he lives alone and only has his cat to talk to most of the time. These thoughts do absolutely nothing for his already ruined self-esteem, which causes him to immediately regret even thinking in the first place.

"Oh, Haru-chan, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I had a good time too, I like hanging out with you." Makoto tells him sincerely.

Haruka's paranoid brain immediately focuses on the phrase "hanging out", such an unromantic phrase, something you would only really say to a friend. _Stop over-thinking_ he tells himself. He ends up blurting out "I kind of miss you already, though." in his panic. But, well, it isn't a lie. In fact, it is only too truthful.

"I miss you too." Makoto mumbles, shyly. Haruka can imagine the blush on his face.

For several moments, the two remain quiet, just breathing down the phone to each other without talking. They do this often, it seems, they have a habit of stopping all conversation to just be in each other's presence. For them, it is natural.

All of a sudden, they both begin speaking at once.

"I just wanted to ask-" Haruka starts, just as Makoto says "Haru-chan, can I ask you-"

Then, they fall quiet again. Haruka laughs a little, breathlessly. "You go." He offers.

"Alright." Makoto's voice sounds nervous, a little shaky, and it seems he is talking with caution. "The thing is, Haru-chan, I don't want to ruin what we have, but something is unsettling me, making me nervous. Our whole friendship - or whatever it is we have - is so... cloudy. Like how limewater goes when you breathe carbon dioxide into it through a straw. You know?" Haruka doesn't know because he failed chemistry. "I suppose, nothing is clear with us. I don't know how to describe it. It's like we meet up and things are all romantic, and of course I enjoy the time we spend together, but you're so, well, stoic, I guess, and I never know what you're thinking. I just can't tell if what you feel for me is the same as what I feel for you. Yeah, this is a crazy thing to say, I know, I mean, we've only met each other like three times, but yesterday just messed with my heart so much, it feels like we know each other so well already. I don't want to stop seeing you just because of some dumb feelings-" Makoto sounds like he's about to cry. It breaks Haruka's heart. "But I know it'll hurt more if I don't tell you these things-"

"Makoto-" Haruka tries, panicking. Is Makoto going to break up with him even though they're not even officially together yet?

"Wait, let me finish, please." Makoto hurries to interrupt, his voice frantic as he rushes to get his words out. "You- You're the first person I've ever liked romantically, Nanase Haruka, I've never had a boyfriend before. There must be something special about you that makes me want to be with you, but I need to know if you feel the same way. If you're not looking for what I'm looking for, then I don't know if we can carry on doing this half and half thing. I want you as a boyfriend or I want you just as a friend, but I can't do a mix of both. Preferably as a boyfriend, if you return my feelings."

Silence follows Makoto's emotional rant. Haruka's throat hurts, he wants to explain that he does feel the same for Makoto, that he does like him, that he wants to be with Makoto just as much as Makoto wants to be with him. He wants to tell him all the things he's feeling but he can't, he'll probably burst into tears if he tries. Frustrated, Haruka presses his lips together.

"Haru-chan? Say something, please." Makoto begs.

"I-" Haruka forces past his lips, blinking rapidly. The whole situation is bizarre, the fact that Makoto is telling him the things that Haruka had originally planned to tell Makoto himself is kind of ridiculous-

Like something out of a fucking comedy show.

"This is a bit surreal. I was literally just calling you to say basically the same thing to you. I really like you. I don't want to keep doing this awkward what-are-we thing. I want to be with you." _Let's DTR_ the dumb voice in Haruka's head says.

"You do?" Makoto asks, his voice small.

"Of course." Haruka promises.

"We should- Uh- I'm going to do this properly, because this conversation has been very bizarre. You're at home, right?"

"Yes, uh, why-"

"Wait there." Makoto tells him, then he hangs up.

Haruka blinks, looks down at Yuki, who is staring up at him with her little kitten eyes curiously. "Do you think he's coming here now?" Haruka asks her. She doesn't answer, purely because she's a cat. He answers himself instead. "Probably."

**

A remarkably small amount of time later, Haruka opens the door to find Makoto standing on the doorstep, breathless and sweaty, his breath coming in desperate gasps as if he'd just ran the entire fifteen minute walk from his own home to Haruka's. The shorter man blinks. "You didn't have to run, you know."

"I didn't want to wait." Makoto protests, voice hoarse. He breathes heavily for a few moments, clutching his knees and staring at the floor, his face not visible to Haruka's gaze, then he looks up into Haruka's eyes and smiles. He smiles that smile. You know, the smile that takes Haruka's breath away and makes him want Makoto to be happy all the time, in every living breathing moment of his life. Makoto's happiness is very important to Haruka, he would give his own to ensure it. Is that healthy? Probably not. Haruka doesn't care, really.

The thought of his own unhealthy life and mentality makes Haruka want to cry. "Why did you come here?" He asks instead.

"I want to ask you something. In person." The taller man murmurs, his eyes soft, his hand falling to rest upon Haruka's pliant fingers and taking them into his own. Then, to Haruka's shock and mild horror, he drops to one knee.

The shorter man stares down at him, his heart thumping wildly in his chest, his expression confused, shocked, and slightly displeased. He huffs out a disbelieving scoff. "If you propose to me right now, I'll have to slap you. We've known each other for like a week, don't throw your life away like that, you big dumb-"

"Oh." Makoto rises to his feet again and Haruka is immediately filled with relief. "Sorry, that was misleading." He squeezes Haruka's fingers gently in apology. At least he has the decency to do so, even if he'd just given Haruka a near heart attack. "I was just going to ask if you'd like to be my boyfriend. I wanted to make it more dramatic by coming over here to see you in person, but I guess the whole one knee thing was a step too far, huh."

"Yes, and you just ruined the romantic mood I was feeling, like, thirty seconds ago." Haruka teases without malice. He delights in the blush that spreads itself over Makoto's pale cheeks, making him impossibly more adorable.

"Sorry." Makoto laughs awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you mind if I come in before you answer my question? It's getting late, so it's a bit chilly."

"Oh. Sure." Haruka steps aside and allows him to enter the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

They stand there, for a second, staring at each other in a very odd way. Then, Makoto asks again. "Would you like to be my boyfriend?"

A soft smile breaking out on his face, Haruka laughs a little, something he feels like he hasn't done in forever, feeling light-headed and giddy with joy, finally able to absorb the question without the feeling of panic still lingering at the back of his mind. Then he nods, murmurs a gentle "Yes." and with a sudden burst of adrenaline, he steps forwards and wraps his arms around Makoto's neck, pulling him down for an innocent kiss.

There are no fireworks; of course there aren't, this isn't a cheesy romance movie. There _is_ a warm feeling that settles itself in Haruka's stomach, though, a feeling which spreads through his body and fills him with a sense of contentedness. He feels like he has found a place where he belongs, finally, after all of the regrets and worries and feelings of conflict he has dealt with over the past few years. He is so inexplicably happy to feel so right, so warm, so loved, that when Makoto recovers from the shock of the surprise kiss and brings his arms up to encircle Haruka's waist, he feels like crying. This time, he lets the tears escape. Makoto doesn't mention it, just allows the kiss to continue despite its wetness, his arms bringing Haruka closer to his body and affectionately rubbing circles into the small of his back.

Eventually, the taller man hesitantly moves back, pulling their lips apart, and raises his hands to wipe his boyfriends tears away. "Tears of happiness, I hope?" He checks, his voice thick, his own eyes shining.

"Yeah." Haruka whispers, and leans forwards again.

They kiss their second kiss, a kiss that marks one of the first of several kisses to be shared in the future, and Haruka can't wait to experience them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know if you spot any mistakes. I don't have a beta and I am just one giant walking typo so yes, there may be quite a few.
> 
> Direct all complaints to peanuuts (previously slaymemakoto) on tumblr and @peanutsexe on twitter (my twitter is a shithole tho so be warned)


	10. An Epilogue Of Sorts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN A YEAR AND 9 DAYS SINCE I STARTED THIS FIC. AND NOW ITS DONE.
> 
> Here is the last chapter. It's, like, super short, but it's a nice read, I think. I went back and edited the first 9 chapters and realised that chapter 9 was a rushed mess and I hate myself but I couldn't be bothered to change it much so I just added like a paragraph. The first 8 are all brushed up and looking fresh, though. I think by chapter 9 I just wanted my boys together and happy and stuff. I may go back and change it in the future.
> 
> Anyway, if any of you are still reading, here is the last chapter. The Epilogue.

A long yawn forces it's way past Rin's lips as he carries his cereal bowl through from the kitchen into the bedroom, settling himself on the bed amongst an abundance of plush cushions and making himself comfortable. 

Morning light slips through the gaps in the blinds that cover the window, creating a calm atmosphere within the room. The noise of the big city outside kind of ruins the peace, but Rin doesn't mind, in fact, he takes pleasure in it's presence. Cars and people alike can be heard from here, only slightly muffled by the windows and walls, even from as far up in the building as he is. Despite it's loudness, he loves it; he loves the way it contrasts with the quietness he was always used to in Iwatobi. Even in Australia, it was never quite like this, it never quite made him feel so at home. When he moved to Tokyo, he'd never expected the noise to be a comfort, he had thought it'd be a nuisance and that it would keep him awake for hours at night. Now, however, he knows that if he was offered the opportunity to make his apartment soundproof for free, he wouldn't take it. Home in Tokyo wouldn't be the same without the noise.

Rin smiles as he thinks about this, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of the city for a few moments longer and appreciating them. Then, he opens his eyes and brings himself back to reality, realising that he needs to check his phone. He thrusts his free hand beneath the sheets and begins to search for it, patting the mattress carelessly in an attempt to seek it out. "Aha!" Rin breathes as his fingertips come into contact with the device, pulling it out into open air and clicking the on button.

He sees that he has a new text message from Haruka. Recalling the conversation he and his friend had had the previous evening, Rin feels his heart thumping with anticipation as he opens the text.

And then he gasps, for he cannot believe what he has read. The announcement is simple, as expected, a fleeting statement in the form of a simple sentence to match Haruka's somehow charmingly plain personality. It's so dull that Rin can imagine him saying it, his voice monotone and his face seemingly expressionless to the eye of an outsider, but Rin would recognise the emotion in his eyes.

"MakoHaru is canon." Haruka had texted.

Rin reads the words on the screen over and over until he slowly begins to giggle to himself. The timing of it had been impeccable. In fact, you might even say that it was fate.

Slowly, Rin's giggle increases in volume, his cereal bowl wobbling in his grasp dangerously, milk threatening to spill over the edges and dirty the sheets of his bed.

"What's so funny, Rin-san?"

Rin's eyes move upwards from the screen of his phone to the man standing in the doorway. Blue hair, red glasses still perching on his nose, even when he is wearing so little else. Rei, a towel around his hips, notices Rin's attention on him, and a pretty flush rises to his cheeks, then, interestingly, spreads down his neck and colours his chest as well. He is adorable, just adorable. And now, he is Rin's.

"Oh, Rei-chan. I was just admiring the perfect coincidence of our situation. I mean, what are the odds that you decided to get on a train to Tokyo to tell me how you feel on the very same evening that our Makoto and Haru got together at last?"

"Who's Makoto?" Rei asks, then he answers his own question. "Oh, you mean Nanase-senpai has someone he likes too? A girl?"

"A girl? Never. Haruka is as gay as me!" Rin laughs. "Makoto is actually a man, a darn beefy one that that."

"Oh, I see." Rei glances downwards and appears to think things at the floor for several seconds. Rin swears he can actually hear the cogs turning in his head. "Maybe that's why he looked so nervous yesterday."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Rin shrugs and looks back at his phone. He can see Rei begin to fumble around for some clothes to put on out of the corner of his eye.

Meanwhile, Rin is hard at work attempting to think of a witty reply for Haru which both congratulates him for his relationship with Makoto and reveals his change in relationship status with Rei, but he cannot think of anything. He decides it'd be most effective to reply with the same blunt and simple style, and ponders over it for a second, before finally sending this:

"Your number one shipper is satisfied. For the record, RinRei is canon, too. Coincidence? I think not!"

Again, he laughs.

**

Rin's text arrives just as Haruka is leaving for work.

As he reads it, his eyebrows rise on his forehead and he wonders how on earth Rei can be attracted to someone so obviously different to him. Well, Haruka supposes, he and Makoto aren't all that similar, either.

Maybe that's just how the world is.

**  
 _December_

In Yuki's opinion, the dark-haired, blue-eyed human she lives with is a curious creature. All humans are curious, but she feels that hers, in particular, is the most curious of all. 

In the space of mere months, his entire aura has changed, in the way he carries himself and in the way he interacts with those around him. Where he used to be reserved, he is now confident; where he used to be quiet, he is now talkative. The changes aren't extreme or obvious, per say. To humans, they're actually rather subtle, but they are evident enough for Yuki to notice and acknowledge them. I mean, the fact that she notices and acknowledges the subtle changes isn't at all surprising, considering the fact that she has come to constantly worry about him and therefore feel obliged to ensure his safety and emotional stability at all times. Observing him has become a habit, and since her human met Miki's human, she has observed these changes and watched them develop. To say the least, Yuki finds them, well, curious.

Honestly, for her, the character development she has observed is positive, as it seems his trust in Yuki herself has increased. The two of them have grown closer over the last few months, the stiff distance that had lurked between them when they first met practically non-existent these days. 

Back then, in the early times, when Yuki and her human were just housemates "for the time being", they didn't have the pet-owner bond which most animals seem to have with their human upon their first meeting. Yuki had been grateful that her human had given her a new home, but she'd missed her previous owner deeply. The small cat had lived peacefully with the delicate old woman and her husband for countless years before she'd come into contact with her new human; she had seen the lady's fragile health deteriorate after her husband's death and watched how it'd made her suffer, her memory fading, her bones weakening. Yuki had seen her fall down the stairs and fled in her panic, though it didn't take long for her to realise she had no where to go. Her original aim was to find someone to help the lady, but she soon found herself lost, wandering through country lanes, vast fields of grass and several different neighbourhoods in search of something - anything - a sign of hope. 

Luckily, she stumbled upon a doorstep one day and felt the urge to wait for someone to find her there. It was this impulse that lead her to her new human, the sad-looking man with dark hair who saved her, fed her and loved her. Of course, she was upset and jarred by the old lady's death, but her new human took good care of her, and she soon overcame her grief, settling in and finding her place in her new home.

When she met Miki, though, things only got better. She now has a gentle feline companion to keep her company, one who she feels understands her like no other cat she's ever met, and her human has become friends with Miki's owner, who treats him well and makes him happy, too. 

It appears they have developed what humans call a "romantic attachment", which, in all honesty, just makes them more entertaining to observe. The main reason why Yuki thinks humans are so curious is because they express affection in ways that cats don't. Yuki finds this particularly fascinating to see. She likes to watch the two of them as they lay on the sofa with their arms wrapped around each other, pressing kisses to each others' lips and staying close together, even as their cheeks flush red. It's cute, indeed, but Yuki has noticed that the two of them only act this way in the privacy of their house, and their affections are more reserved when they are in public, limited to only the holding of hands and, in very special situations, the brief pressing together of lips.

After observing the two for a suitable amount of time and drawing up a conclusion from her research, Yuki decides this:

Humans are curious, curious creatures, but Nanase Haruka and Tachibana Makoto are the most curious of all, for at first glance it seems like they were made for each other, but, in reality, they were just brought together by the mischief of cats. And stuff. 

(For the sake of justifying a shitty title.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> direct complaints to:  
> my new tumblr: peanuuts.tumblr.com  
> my shitty twitter: @oikawizard
> 
> Please let me know if you spotted any spelling mistakes.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to attempt to update this more than I update "Draco Malfoy and the Quest to Make Potter Happy", but like who knows what'll happen.


End file.
